Phantoms of a Wish
by HyruleKing
Summary: Following the events of "Heart of Darkness, Soul of Light", CJ, the King of Hyrule, finds himself returned to his old life as a normal young man living on Earth, where Hyrule is just a fictional world. But, as his wish on the Triforce to return him and his friends to their normal lives unravels, he begins to realize that every wish comes with an unforeseen twist...
1. Prologue: Return to the Days of Old

**Phantoms of a Wish**

 _When we last left our heroes... or maybe our villain... CJ had confessed to Shaylene that he was responsible for the house fire that killed her family. He admitted that he loved her and found it hard to fight the darkness within him that drove him to want to be with her. Furious, Jennette traveled to Lorule in the hopes of using their Triforce to make CJ pay for what he did. But in the end, CJ did what he could to atone for his sins by wishing on the Triforce to reverse what was done by the Crystal Wii Remote, returning him and his friends to their old life and making Hyrule nothing more than a fictional land within a video game once again..._

 **PROLOGUE: Return to the Days of Old**

A brown-haired, sapphire-eyed young man in his mid-20s sat up in bed, which was just a simple mattress on the floor in the middle of a small room. He reached over to the round glass table next to him and grabbed the pair of glasses that were sitting on top of his laptop. Sleeping at the foot of the bed was a gray-and-white short-haired cat. The young man shifted a bit in bed, waking the cat, who looked at him, stretched and then she let out a quiet meow.

"Good morning, Saphira." The young man, 25-year-old CJ Francis, said. He grabbed his cell phone and checked the time. 10:13 AM. He lifted the covers off of himself and got out of bed. Saphira ran over to a small metal dish sitting in the corner of the room and meowed again. "I know. It's breakfast time, huh?" CJ walked over to a small brown cat carrier next to his dresser, opened it, and grabbed a can of cat food. He opened it and poured it into the dish, which Saphira immediately began eating. CJ then looked at the calendar. July 3, 2013.

 _It looks like the Triforce did what I wanted._ CJ thought to himself. He then grabbed his cell phone and dialed a number. He smiled when he heard a voice on the other end.

" _Hi CJ."_ A girl's voice said.

"Hey Shay." CJ said. The girl on the other line was his best friend, 16-year-old Shaylene Johnson. "Happy birthday. Finally old enough to drive."

" _Yup."_ Shaylene said, chuckling. _"And thanks."_

"You're welcome." CJ said. "What time do you want me to come pick you up?"

" _Is there any specific time that you want to come get me?"_ Shaylene asked.

"Well... Stacey and her family are heading over to her aunt's around 2:00 for the pool party, so it's really whenever you want me to pick you up." CJ said.

" _Okay. Just come get me around 1:30 then."_ Shaylene said.

"Is Jennette coming too?" CJ asked.

" _No. She's gotta work today."_ Shaylene said. _"But she'll be out in time to meet us downtown at the stadium for the fireworks."_

"Ok. Sounds like a plan." CJ said. "I'll see you at 1:30." He then hung up his phone, tossed his laptop in his black backpack and walked upstairs. He came up to a small bedroom where a cinnamon-skinned young man about 21 years old with very short curly black hair sat, playing a PlayStation 3.

"Hey CJ." The young man said. He was CJ's friend and roommate, Alex.

"Morning, dude." CJ said. "You talk to Dayan or Danielle yet?"

"No, I was waiting to find out what time we were heading over to Stacey's aunt's house." Alex said.

"I was planning on leaving here around 1:15 or so." CJ said.

"Ok." Alex said. "I'll give them a call and let them know."

A couple of hours later, a tan-colored Chevy car pulled up in front of a grayish-tan house on a busy main road. Sitting in the back seat were Alex, a black young man with umber brown skin and a shaved head, and a caramel beige skinned girl with glasses and wavy, almost curly dark brown, seemingly black hair. They were CJ and Alex's friends Dayan and Danielle. Sitting in the driver's seat was CJ. He honked the horn and within a minute or two, a girl came running out of the house and jumped in the passenger seat. She wore a pink t-shirt, jean skirt and had emerald green eyes and golden blond hair that was tied into a ponytail.

"Hey, CJ." She said with a smile.

"Happy birthday, Shay." CJ said. "Ready to have an awesome day?"

"You know it!" Shaylene said excitedly. She clicked her seatbelt into place and the group was soon on their way.

Not too long, CJ pulled up to a small house on a wooded back road. Everyone jumped out and headed out behind the house, where a bunch of people were gathered around an in-ground swimming pool, and several others were swimming in the pool.

"Hey Stacey, CJ's here!" An amber-eyed girl with short brown hair called out from the pool. CJ looked over to the nearby table, where a young woman about 21 years old with medium dirty blond hair and sky blue eyes, wearing a black one piece bathing suit, turned to face him. She ran over and hugged him.

"Hi hun." She said. She was Stacey, CJ's girlfriend. CJ smiled and kissed her.

"Hey." CJ said. Stacey then looked at Shaylene.

"Did you have to bring her?" Stacey asked.

CJ gave her a slightly upset look. "Hun, it's her birthday. Cut her some slack." He then turned to Shay. "Give us a minute, okay?"

"Sure." Shaylene said. She walked over to the table, where Alex, Dayan and Danielle had already gone.

"What is with you, hun?" CJ asked. "Why can't you ever be somewhat nice to Shaylene?"

"Because I..." Stacey's sentence trailed off as she began to mumble in a manner similar to an upset child.

"Hun..." CJ said sternly.

"I don't like her." Stacey said, still mumbling a bit.

"Why?" CJ asked.

"Because... You do." Stacey said.

"Hun, if I liked her more than I liked you, you and I wouldn't be about to celebrate our 3-year anniversary." CJ said. "Sure, I like her. But I also know that she's too young for me, and besides... I'm happy being with you. But I really wish you would try to get along with her better. She's been one of my best friends for close to 10 years. She's practically like a sister to me. And as much as I love you, I don't want our relationship to ruin my friendship with her."

"You don't want me ruining another friendship... I get it..." Stacey said, sounding defeated.

"Hun, stop that." CJ said, putting his hand on Stacey's chin and lifting her head so they were looking into each other's eyes. "You didn't ruin my friendship with Mat. I did that... on purpose. I don't know why you're even feeling bad about it."

"Sorry..." Stacey said.

"It's ok." CJ said, pulling Stacey into an embrace. "I love you. Now let's go have some fun." They headed back toward the pool, where everyone had already jumped in, with the exception of Shaylene, who was standing near the table in a pink bikini with purple and blue flowers on it.

Stacey looked down at her feet, and then sorrowfully looked up. "I'm sorry about what I said..."

"It's ok." Shaylene said.

"Happy birthday, by the way." Stacey said.

"Thanks." Shaylene said.

"Hun, are you coming downtown with us to the fireworks tonight?" CJ asked.

"No, it's way too hot for me." Stacey said, referencing the 90-degree heat and 70 to 80-percent humidity that day.

"That's fine." CJ said. "I'd rather you don't make yourself sick." He then shed his black t-shirt and jumped into the pool, and the girls quickly followed suit.

A short time later, an older woman with glasses and shoulder length dirty blonde hair came walking over to the pool area in a blue one-piece bathing suit.

"Hey Stace, can you give us a hand with the food?" She asked.

"Sure, Mom." Stacey said. Stacey climbed out of the pool and followed her mom over to her aunt's house.

"Hey CJ, what time are we heading downtown?" Dayan asked.

"I don't know. Was there any specific time you guys wanted to get there?" CJ said. "I mean, the fireworks aren't until like 9:15 or so, but if we wanted to walk around and check out all the food vendors and stuff, we can."

"So like... 8:15, 8:30-ish?" Danielle asked.

"Actually yeah, maybe we'll go a bit earlier." CJ said. "Unless you guys want to drive back to my house and then we can walk to the fireworks."

"I'm okay with walking." Danielle said.

"That's fine with me." Dayan added.

"When have I ever complained about walking?" Alex questioned.

"That way, we don't have to get stuck in fireworks traffic." CJ said. "What about you, Shay? You okay with walking?" He looked at Shaylene, who was sitting on the edge of the pool hanging her feet in the water.

"Yeah, I'll be all right with it." Shaylene said. "If I get too tired, I'm sure you could carry me..."

CJ just looked at her for a moment. "Fine." He said. "But only as an absolute last resort. What about Jennette? Want to see if she'd want to drive to my house and walk with us?"

"Yeah, I'll give her a call a little bit later." Shaylene said.

"What time is she working until?" CJ asked.

"5:00." Shaylene said.

 _ **A few hours later...**_

"Hey hun, we're heading home." CJ said to Stacey.

"Okay. I'll see you later then." Stacey said, kissing CJ. CJ and the gang headed back out to his car and started to head back home, as Shaylene pulled out her phone and dialed a number.

" _Hey sis. What's up?"_

"We're all gonna meet up at CJ's and then walk to the fireworks tonight. You up for walking with us?" Shaylene asked.

" _Yeah, sure. I'm okay with that."_ Jennette said from the other end.

"Awesome. We'll see you then." Shaylene said before hanging up."

Later that evening, the group was gathered in front of a three-story grayish-blue house on a quiet side street. Everyone except Jennette, that is. Within a few minutes, a small silver car pulled up and parked in front of the house. Everyone looked at the car as Jennette climbed out of the driver's seat.

"What's up, guys?" Jennette asked.

"Hey, Jennette." CJ said. Everyone soon began walking down the street.

"Hey, CJ..." Dayan said. "You working this weekend?"

"Nah, I took the weekend off." CJ said. "I was gonna ask if you guys wanted to head over to Ray's on Sunday for the tourney. Get in some excitement with the little bit of summer we have left."

Dayan laughed. "Go figure. That's what I was gonna ask. Everyone else up for it?"

"You bet I am!" Shaylene said.

"It's whatever." Alex said.

"Sure." Danielle said.

"So CJ, Stacey couldn't make it?" Jennette asked.

"No. This heat and humidity kills her." CJ said. "She decided to stay home."

A few hours later, everyone was sitting on a bunch of metal benches in a local park behind a small brick football stadium. Exploding above their heads were dozens of colorful fireworks. CJ smiled and looked at Shaylene.

"See, kiddo? You're so important that the city has fireworks for your birthday." He said with a smirk.

"Shut up." Shaylene said, laughing a bit. "I know these are because tomorrow's the Fourth of July. But thanks anyway."

"Happy Birthday, Shay." CJ said, embracing his best friend. "And Happy Fourth guys."

 _ **The following Sunday...**_

Everyone was gathered in front of small shop somewhere downtown. The sign in the window read "Amesbury Comics".

"So... what deck did everyone bring?" Dayan asked.

"No offense, but why would I say, dude?" CJ asked. "We might end up facing each other in the tournament."

"What about you, Alex?" Dayan questioned.

"Same deck as always." Alex said.

"Six Sams?" CJ asked. Alex nodded. "And I'm assuming D brought her plant deck?"

"Hell yeah." Danielle said. "You guys are gonna get your asses kicked by Black Rose Dragon."

"You wish." Shaylene said with a smile.

"Someone's confident." Dayan said.

"She's been practicing a lot with me lately." CJ said. "She's made a lot of progress since the summer started."

"Y'know, this almost feels like some kind of Kingdom Hearts shit." Dayan said.

"All of us hanging out like this, trying to enjoy as much of the little bit of summer we have left?" CJ asked.

"Yeah." Dayan said.

"Looks like Haverhill's the new Twilight Town." CJ said with a laugh. "By the way... Dayan, you didn't say what deck you brought. Morphs? Photons? Utopia/Cowboy?"

"Nope." Dayan said. "I'm going Jaden Yuki this time around. Rocking my E Hero deck."

"Sweet. Been a while since I've faced the E Heroes." CJ said. "I'll reveal my hand. It'll be nice to see if the Heroes can slay the mighty Blue-Eyes White Dragon."

"I should've expected you'd use your Blue-Eyes Deck." Dayan said.

CJ laughed. "It may be an inconsistent deck, but it's still my favorite. Hopefully, it'll be consistent enough to win this."

Within a short amount of time, everyone was inside the card shop, sitting at various tables with other people. Everyone had various trading cards laid out in front of them. Some were yellow, others were orange, some were purple, pink or blue, and a few were even black or white. But they all had crimson backgrounds with a black oval in the center.

"I'll activate Master Hyperion's effect." Shaylene said, pointing to a orange card on the table in front of her. She then removed an orange card from her discard pile. "I'll remove a Fairy-type monster in my graveyard from play, which will let me destroy one card on your side of the field." She then pointed to a green card on the table in front of her. "And since I have Sanctuary in the Sky in play, I can use this effect twice. So, I'll destroy your Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon and your face-down card." Shaylene's opponent then picked up a purple card and a face down card and placed them in the discard pile.

"And that means I'm open to a direct attack from your Hyperion." Shaylene's opponent said. "Good game." He said, reaching out to shake Shaylene's hand.

"Ray, I won." Shaylene said to a gray-haired man with glasses sitting behind a desk at the back of the card shop.

"Damn Agents..." Shaylene's opponent swore under his breath.

"Congrats, Shay." CJ said.

"Thanks." Shaylene said. Meanwhile, Dayan, Danielle and Alex were finishing up their duels.

"I activate Miracle Fusion." Dayan said, laying down a green card. He then removed two orange cards from his discard pile and placed them next to it in a separate pile. "I banish my Elemental Hero Prisma and my Elemental Hero Stratos to Fusion Summon Elemental Hero The Shining." He then placed a purple card on the field. "And my Shining gains 300 attack points for each of my banished Elemental Hero Monsters. So that's 3200 attack points. That's 400 points higher than your Cyber Twin Dragon."

"And with no other cards on my field and only 300 life points left, it looks like I lose." Dayan's opponent said.

"Hey Ray, I won my duel." Dayan said.

"Me too." Alex said.

"I lost mine." Danielle said.

"Okay, give me a second and I'll see how the final round matches up." Ray, the shop owner, said. He clicked a few buttons on his mouse. "All right, Alex you're facing Jonathon. Danielle you've got Mark. David you're facing Shawn. Shaylene you're facing CJ. And Dayan you've got the bye."

Within about thirty minutes or so, the duels began to end.

"I won, Ray." Alex said.

"Me too." Said Danielle.

"I beat David." Said a black-haired young man who looked to be in middle school.

"And I won our duel." CJ said.

"Okay." Ray said. "Give me one moment... Okay, Dayan you've got first place. CJ, you get second. And Shaylene gets third."

"Nice!" CJ said with a smile.

"First play gets $10 store credit. Second place gets four packs. Third place gets two packs." Ray said.

Within a short amount of time, everyone had their packs and cards picked out and were on their way.

"Awesome job today, Shay." CJ said.

"Yeah. Getting third place in one of your first tournaments is pretty good." Dayan said.

"So, you guys want to head back to our place to hang out?" Danielle asked.

"Yeah, why not?" Alex said.

"Well... that _is_ the whole reason I took the weekend off." CJ said with a chuckle. "But I wanna hit Sparky's first."

"When don't you want to go to Sparky's?" Dayan asked.

CJ laughed. "True. But I'm dying for Teradactyl wings."

"Yeah, sure. Let's roll." Dayan said.


	2. Forgotten Memories Remembered

**CHAPTER ONE: Forgotten Memories Remembered**

A few days later, CJ was sitting on his mattress-on-the-floor of a bed with his laptop in front of him. He soon heard a knock on his window, which faced the front door of the house. He got up, pulled back the curtain and peered out the window, where he saw Shaylene standing at the front door. He motioned for her to wait a moment, walked out of his room and quickly greeted her at the front door.

"Hey." He said with a smile. "You didn't walk all the way here did you?"

"Yeah... I did. Can I come in?" Shaylene asked.

"Sure." CJ said. "I'm just relaxing in my room."

"I wasn't sure if you'd be down here in your room or upstairs hanging with Alex." Shaylene said.

"Nah, Alex is at work for the afternoon." CJ said. "Kinda wish I was. I wouldn't mind some extra hours since I'm not taking any summer classes." He and Shaylene walked into his room and he shut the door behind him. Shaylene smiled and walked over to the gray-and-white-haired cat sitting by a couple of food and water dishes near the windows.

Shaylene knelt down and smiled, petting the cat. "Hey Saphira." She said, in that typical cutesy tone of voice one would use when talking to a pet or a baby.

"So, something on your mind, Shay?" CJ asked, plopping down on his bed.

"No. Just bored. Wanted to come over and hang." Shaylene said.

CJ checked his phone. 2:35 PM.

"Well, I hate to break it to you, but you've only got like half an hour to stay here." CJ said. "Stacey gets out of work at 3, and we're going out for a date night tonight."

"Oh... okay." Shaylene said, her gaze quickly becoming downcast. "I'll just go now... Sorry..."

As Shaylene was walking away, CJ quickly rushed up behind her and poked her in the side, making her squeak with surprise.

"Don't get all down and mopey on me, brat." CJ said. "We can hang out tomorrow." A smile quickly crept its way back onto Shaylene's face.

"Okay! I'll see you tomorrow then!" She cheered as she began to walk out the door.

"Wait!" Shaylene stopped. "Would you like a ride home?" CJ asked.

"No, it's fine." Shaylene said.

"Okay." CJ said, as Shaylene walked out and closed the door. CJ then walked back into his room and sat down on his bed. He opened a Microsoft Word file and began to type.

" _The Man with the Crystal Wii-mote."_ He typed. _"When we last left our hero, CJ, he had just ended the war with the King of Twilight and wished on the Triforce that the pain and suffering his friends, family and himself have suffered at the hands of Ganondorf would be undone…"_

He sat there and thought for a moment.

"Hm... What should I open with?" He wondered to himself. "Oh! I know what to start with!"

" _October 31, 2012 (Twilari 31, 1124 Hyrule Time)…_

" _Sam Carlson… For everything you've done… You must pay… I cannot let this go unpunished…" CJ said. With that, he plunged the Pyramid Sword of Power into Sam's chest, ending his life. Suddenly, Sam's lifeless corpse began to glow with dark energy. CJ gasped at the being that took shape before him. It was a dark-skinned muscular man with crimson hair and crimson eyes._

" _We meet again, boy…"_

 _"No. This… will… not happen…" CJ said. He held his hand up and watched as it gave off an ethereal glow._

 _"Ah… the Triforce… A feeble attempt… If I knock you away and touch it first, my wish will be granted…" Ganondorf said, turning his back to CJ . "I will make my wish to control Hyrule and finish you…" Ganondorf laughed with malice._

" _Always laughing about your plan and never paying attention to what's going on around you, huh?" CJ said with a smirk. Ganondorf looked at him and saw that he was touching the Triforce._

 _"Impossible!" Ganondorf exclaimed._

" _Great golden goddess of Hyrule!" CJ exclaimed. "Hear my cry! Heal the pain of my friends, family and subjects who have been hurt by Ganondorf! Make the suffering go away! Bring it to an end! Reverse the curse of Ganondorf that has been laid on me and those I care about!" Ganondorf rushed toward CJ, eager to stop him, but turned to dust as a bright white light filled the room…"_

"I can't wait to finish these new stories based on everything that happened since I woke up from my coma and found that magic Wii remote." CJ thought aloud. It was then that his cell phone started to ring.

" _God gave me you for the ups and downs... God gave me you for the days of doubt. And for when I think I've lost my way, there are no words here left to say, it's true... God gave me you... Gave me you..."_ His phone echoed. He swiped the touch screen, pressing the "Answer" button.

"Hey hun." He said with a smile.

" _Hi my king."_ Stacey said from the other end, happiness present in her voice. _"I just got out of work. You ready for our date night?"_

"With you, my beautiful queen, always." CJ said.

" _Ok yay!"_ Stacey responded. _"I'll see you in a few then."_

"Ok hun." CJ said. "Love you."

" _Love you too."_ Stacey said. CJ then hung up.

Later that night, CJ stepped out of the passenger side of a silver SUV. He walked around to the driver's side, where Stacey was sitting.

"So... did you have fun?" He asked with a smile.

"Of course I did." Stacey said.

"Me too." CJ said, before kissing Stacey. "Love you."

"Love you too." Stacey said.

"Drive safe and text me when you get home please." CJ said.

"Of course." Stacey said. The two briefly kissed again before CJ walked up his driveway and into the house as Stacey rolled up her car window and drove off.

 _ **The next day...**_

CJ walked up to Shaylene's house and rang the doorbell. He was soon greeted by a balding man with a patch of greyish-brown hair on each side of his head.

"Hey CJ." The man said.

"Hi Dave." CJ responded. "Are Shay and Jennette home?"

"Shaylene's home." The man, Shaylene's father Dave said. "Jennette's at work. She'll be home in about an hour or so. Come on in. Shaylene's in the living room." Dave led CJ into the house and back into the living room, which had a large leather couch and a 42-inch flat screen TV and was right next to the kitchen. Sitting on the couch, playing her Nintendo Wii U, was Shaylene.

"Hey Shay." CJ said.

"Hey... What are you doing here?" Shaylene asked.

"I told you we would hang today." CJ said, tossing his black backpack onto the couch. "Nice! Playing New Super Mario Bros. U?"

"Yup." Shaylene said. "You wanna start a file together?"

"Sure, why not?" CJ said with a smile. The two continued to play for about an hour or so, until they heard the door creak open. They looked through the kitchen toward the door, where Jennette had just walked in, dressed in jean shorts and a yellow, blue and green spotted tankini top.

"Still lifeguarding at the country club?" CJ asked.

"Yup." Jennette said. "Didn't expect to see you when I got home."

"I promised Shay I'd come over today." CJ said. "We're playing New Super Mario Bros U. Wanna join?"

"Sure." Jennette said. "Just let me get changed, then I want to quickly check on my school schedule."

"Starting your last year?" CJ asked.

"Last year." Jennette said.

"I forget..." CJ said. "What the heck are you going for?"

Jennette just laughed. "Criminal Justice."

"So what made you decide to go into criminal justice?" CJ asked.

"Oh, well we used to have this weirdo creep who lived next door to us." Jennette said. "Pretty sure he wanted to sleep with me and Shay. Think his name was like... PJ or something."

"Ha ha. Real funny." CJ said.

Jennette laughed. "But in all seriousness, I'm not really sure why I want to go into criminal justice. It just feels right, I guess."

"What about you, Shay?" CJ asked. "Any idea what you want to do for a career?"

"Yup." Shaylene said with a smile. CJ sat there, confused by her silence.

"Well... Are you gonna tell me?" CJ asked.

"Meteorologist." Shaylene said.

"Wait... Seriously?!" CJ asked with a tone of shock and excitement.

"Yeah." Shaylene said.

"I never knew you had an interest in weather, too." CJ said. "You know I'm planning on going for a meteorology degree. Why didn't you ever tell me?"

"I'm young. I'm still in high school." Shaylene said. "I wasn't completely sure yet."

"Have you figured out where you want to go for school?" CJ asked. "I mean, you're going to be a junior, it wouldn't hurt to start thinking about that."

"I've been thinking about it." Shaylene said. "Right now, I'm trying to decide between Lyndon State or UMass Lowell."

"So... follow in your brother and sister's footsteps by going to Lowell or go to Vermont..." CJ said. "Tough choice."

"Where are you going to go?" Shaylene asked. "I mean, once you're done at NECC?"

"I'm torn between UMass and Lyndon as well." CJ said. "On the one hand, I'd like to go to UMass and commute back and forth so I can stay close to friends and family. But at the same time, a couple of the guys from Channel 7 went to Lyndon State and I'm pretty sure it's fairly well-known for its meteorology program." By this time, Jennette had slipped away. "Any advice, Jenn- Oh. She must have slipped away to get changed."

"You guys were having a moment, so I took the opportunity." Jennette said, as she walked back into the living room, now dressed in jean shorts and a white tank top. "So, since you grilled me about work, how's the security job going?"

"I didn't _grill_ you. I asked a question." CJ said. "But it's going good. Been picking up some extra hours here and there."

"How did you ever manage to score a job working security at the same school you attend?" Jennette asked.

"One, I know people. And two... No, that's pretty much it. I know people." CJ said.

"You 'know people'?" Jennette said, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah." CJ said. "Stacey's dad is friends with the guy who runs the company... well... used to run the company that has the contract with the school."

"Used to?" Shaylene asked.

"Yeah." CJ said. "His son runs it now."

"Talk about lucky." Jennette said.

"Yeah." CJ said. "I'm glad I was able to get that job, otherwise I'd still be doing crossing guard. Don't get me wrong, I loved working as a crossing guard, but at the time I got my security job I didn't have a car and I still hadn't gotten the one I have now."

"Speaking of Stacey, why aren't you hanging with her?" Jennette asked.

"She's busy today. She's taking an online summer course for her school. It's the last class she needs to finish her Associate's in animal care and graduate." CJ said.

 _ **Several hours later...**_

CJ was standing at the back door of Shaylene's house, backpack slung over his shoulder, ready to leave. Shaylene was standing in her kitchen with a green-eyed woman with shoulder-length brown hair wearing a loose fitting gray t-shirt and black slacks.

"Mom, can I sleepover CJ's? Pleeeeease?" Shaylene begged the woman.

"As long as you're not a burden to him." Shaylene's mom, Brenda, said.

"Shay's never a burden." CJ said with a smile.

"Yay!" Shaylene cheered. "Be right back!" She quickly hurried upstairs.

"Are you sure it's not a problem?" Brenda asked.

"Of course not." CJ said. "I love having Shay over. And thank you."

"For what?" Brenda asked.

"Letting Shay spend the night at my place. Or even come over for that matter." CJ said. "Heck, thanks for letting me come over here so often. I can only imagine how much trust it must take for someone to let their teenage daughter spend the night with someone 10 years older than her."

"You've been friends with our girls for 10 years, and they both really like and trust you." Dave said, walking into the room. "And you haven't done anything to prove that you aren't worthy of that trust."

"Thank you." CJ said, as Shaylene came running back down the stairs, backpack in hand. As she got about halfway down, she tripped and began to fall forward. CJ quickly rushed over to the stairs, catching her in his arms.

"Thanks." Shaylene said with a smile.

"You're welcome." CJ said. "I know you're excited, but please, be careful."

"Are you sure you wouldn't want her to come over after we've had supper?" Brenda asked CJ. "We can drive her over to your house."

"No, it's fine." CJ said. "I'll take care of her."

"Are you sure?" Brenda asked.

"Yeah. It's not a problem at all." CJ said. He looked at Shaylene. "You ready?"

"Yup." Shaylene said with a smile. The two then walked out of her house and headed out into the balmy summer evening air. "So, what were you planning for supper?"

"Mediterranean sound good to you?" CJ asked, referencing the local pizza and sub shop a block away from CJ's house.

"Sure!" Shaylene chirped, as the two climbed into CJ's car. Not too long after, CJ parked the car and they walked into a small pizza shop with a big sign in the window that read "We now offer online ordering" in big bold letters. Shaylene walked over to one of the tables and sat down, while CJ walked up to the counter.

"Steak tip dinner, medium well with spicy fries?" Asked the brown-haired, brown-eyed girl behind the counter.

"Yes please." CJ said. "And I'd also like a buffalo finger dinner with onion rings."

"Dipped or breaded?" The girl asked.

"Dipped please." Shaylene said from their table. CJ chuckled.

"What she said." He said, smiling a bit. "And two 20-oz sodas, please."

"Ok... that comes to $25.44, please." The girl said. CJ handed her $30 and she handed him his change. He dropped a dollar bill and the loose coins into a small container nearby that read "TIPS" and then went to sit down with Shaylene.

"You know, I could have eaten supper at home." Shaylene said. "And I'm sure Mom and Dad would have let you eat at our house too. You didn't have to do this."

"I know I didn't _have_ to." CJ said. "But I wanted to."

"Thanks." Shaylene said. "Do you think we should've seen if Alex wanted anything?"

"No, he's at work right now." CJ said. "And he'll probably eat there anyway."

"How much more schooling does he have to do?" Shaylene asked.

"I dunno." CJ said. "Another couple of years, I think. I think he changed his major."

"You guys are all set." The girl behind the counter said a few minutes later.

A short time later, CJ and Shaylene were sitting in his room, both playing on their Nintendo 3DS.

"I miss being neighbors..." Shaylene said. "I want the old days back when we could just walk next door and hang out."

"Me too." CJ said. "Me too..."


	3. Shadows of Skylan and Twilight of Twilar

**CHAPTER TWO**

 **Part 1: Shadows of Skylan**

 **(September)**

Shaylene stood outside a brick nursing home, pink backpack slung over her shoulder. She wore jean shorts and a gray t-shirt that had a pink heart on the front with white lettering that read "Heart" and on the back was white lettering that read "Breaker". Standing around with her were several other teens with backpacks also thrown hastily over their shoulders. A gentle layer of clouds covered the barely risen sun.

A girl about 16 or so came running over to Shaylene. She had brown hair that was almost down to her waist, wore a simple pink v-neck top that showed off her cleavage, black yoga pants and had a red purse hanging from her shoulder.

"What's up, Shay?" She asked.

"Hey, Meghan..." Shaylene said, slowly and with a hint of confusion. "Two questions come to mind... One: where is all your school stuff, and two: what's with the outfit? I'm sorry... but you look like a slut."

"First of all, it's the first day of school." The girl, Shaylene's classmate and friend Meghan, said. "And we're juniors now. I've got to make a good impression on the senior boys. And second: It's the first day. Teachers aren't going to give us anything. And besides, I'm not doing anything on the first day. Unless it's a senior boy."

"Ew!" Shaylene exclaimed. "What the heck is wrong with you, Meg?"

"What do you mean?" Meghan asked.

"I'm not doing anything unless it's a senior boy." Shaylene said mockingly. "I can't believe you just said that!"

"Coming from the girl who spends most of her spare time with a college guy who's ten years older than her." Meghan said.

"The difference is that I'm not trying to get in his pants." Shaylene said, as the school bus pulled up. Before long, the bus had arrived at the high school, and Shaylene and Meghan went their separate ways.

 _ **Later that afternoon...**_

Shaylene walked in the back door of her house, kicked her shoes off, threw her backpack on the floor and exited the entryway into the adjacent kitchen, where her mom was washing dishes.

"Hi, sweetie." Brenda said. "How was school?"

"Boring." Shaylene said.

"Did you see Meghan?" Brenda questioned. "You guys have barely seen each other all summer."

"Yeah, I saw her. Though she's not the same Meghan I used to hang out with." Shaylene said.

"What do you mean, dear?" Brenda asked.

"She's become more interested in boys lately." Shaylene said. "I mean, _a lot_ more interested. She showed up to school in tight pants and a disgustingly show-offy top."

"That doesn't sound like Meghan..." Brenda said.

"She said that she 'wasn't doing anything at school today unless it was a senior boy'." Shaylene said. "Mommy, I think I need a new best friend." It was then that the bathroom door adjacent to the kitchen opened and Shaylene was startled by a new voice.

"Wait... Meghan Cruz? Sabrina's little sister? The same chubby little girl who you used to play on the trampoline with, and who used to come over my house with you and your sister to go swimming?"

Shaylene turned and saw the source of the voice. "CJ!" She exclaimed, running over and hugging him. "And yes. That Meghan."

"Wow." CJ said. "So... do I have to fill out an application to be your best friend or is it like a President/Vice President thing... Like, since the old best friend can no longer perform their duties, am I just automatically appointed?"

"You were already in the position, dude." Shaylene said. "Oh! Meghan brought up our friendship too."

"What did she say?" CJ asked.

"When I told her that what she said about senior boys was messed up and disgusting, she was like 'coming from the girl who spends her time with a college guy'." Shaylene said.

"And what exactly does she think we're doing?" CJ questioned.

"I think you can guess." Shaylene said.

"If she thinks you would do that, then she clearly doesn't know you two well enough." Brenda said. "CJ, I trust you enough to know that not only would you not betray your relationship with your girlfriend, but you also would not take advantage of my little girl."

"Thank you." CJ said.

"On the other hand, Shaylene... I trust you well enough not to talk CJ into anything he might regret." Brenda said.

"Hey, I'm jealous of Stacey. Not disrespectful enough to take CJ away from her." Shaylene said.

"That doesn't stop her from being jealous of you though." CJ said.

"Why is she so jealous?" Shaylene asked.

"It's just how she is." CJ said. "I've tried to talk to her and try to get her to ease up about it, but it just doesn't work."

"Doesn't that ever bother you?" Shaylene asked. "I mean, how jealous she is."

"Well yeah. Of course it does." CJ said. "But at the same time, I kind of like it."

"Really? You _like_ it?" Shaylene questioned.

"Yeah." CJ said. "The way that I see it, her being jealous is a sign of just how much she loves me. She's afraid of someone else taking me away from her."

"You don't see that as a sign of possessiveness?" Shaylene asked.

"Of course I do." CJ replied. "That's why part of me is bothered by how jealous she is." He paused for a moment. "But let's talk about something else."

"Ok... Like what?" Shaylene asked.

"You wanna go for a walk?" CJ asked.

"Sure." Shaylene said. She walked into the living room, tossed her backpack onto the couch, and the two turned and headed out the door. "So... was there anything particular you wanted to talk about?"

"Not really." CJ said. "I just wanted to get off of the topic about Stacey's jealousy."

"It _does_ bother you more than you let on." Shaylene said.

CJ sighed. "...Yeah. You caught me." He said. "Mostly when it comes to you specifically."

"Why me?" Shaylene asked.

"Because..." CJ said. "You and I have been best friends for years. Longer than I've been with Stacey. And I do like you. And Stacey knows that. But I've tried to tell her that you're not a threat to our relationship. I've told her that you're too young for me and if I wasn't happy with her, we wouldn't have been together for the past 3 years."

"Maybe we'd be better off not being friends anymore..." Shaylene mumbled.

"Don't even start talking like that." CJ said. "You mean so much to me. Just as much as Stacey. Besides..."

"Besides what?" Shaylene asked.

"I dunno... Stacey and I have kinda been fighting a lot more than usual." CJ said. "Over stupid shit, too... Oops... I mean stupid _stuff_."

"Dude." Shaylene said. "I'm 16 and in high school. I've heard people say far worse things."

CJ laughed. "True. I guess I still see you as the sweet innocent little girl who used to live next door."

"So now I'm not sweet and innocent?" Shaylene wisecracked.

"My point was part of me still sees you as the little girl next door." CJ said.

"I know. I'm just messing with you." Shaylene said. "And by the way... Regardless of how jealous I may be of Stacey, you two make a good couple. I know I'm completely inexperienced with relationships and dating... I mean, _completely_ inexperienced. Like, I'm clueless when it comes to that stuff."

"I get it. You've never had a boyfriend." CJ said.

"What I'm trying to say is... You guys are gonna fight. Over stupid things." Shaylene said. "Don't let it break you apart. Maybe if it was like an everyday occurrence and it was all you guys did... Wait, it's not all you guys do, is it?"

"No, but it feels like it sometimes." CJ said.

"Maybe you're just spending too much time with each other." Shaylene said.

"Maybe." CJ said. "Hey, you wanna head back to your house and have a duel or two?"

"Sure." Shaylene said.

 **Part Two: Twilight of Twilari**

 **(October)**

CJ pulled his car over to the side of the road in front of a familiar tan house on a busy main road in the north of town. Sitting in the back seat were Alex and Dayan. CJ looked to the front door of the house as it opened and Shaylene stepped out. She shut the door behind her, smiled and ran to the car. CJ smiled as she climbed into the passenger seat.

"Ready?" CJ asked.

"To start my Pokemon journey in the Kalos region?" Shaylene responded. "To experience Mega Evolution for the first time? To start using the Pokemon type I was born to master? Hell yeah!" They were talking about the newest game releasing for the Nintendo 3DS that day, Pokemon X and Pokemon Y.

CJ laughed. "A bit excited for the Fairy type?" He asked.

"Are you kidding me?" Shaylene asked. "My name literally means 'From the fairy palace'. This is my type!" She looked in the backseat. "No Danielle?"

"No, she had to work." Dayan said.

"So, your Kalos adventure is gonna have to wait a bit longer." CJ said. "We were planning on all firing up the game together."

"What about Stacey?" Shaylene asked, buckling her seat belt.

"She had to work too." CJ said, as he pulled out into traffic and began driving. "She won't be hanging with us. She'll be too tired after she gets out."

"So... what Pokemon is everyone starting with?" Shaylene asked.

"Froakie." Dayan said. "Ninja frog? Hell yeah."

"I always start with the fire type, so I'm going with Fennekin." Alex said.

"Boo ya! Team Fennekin for the win!" Shaylene exclaimed.

"I've been sold on Chespin since January." CJ said.

"So, I've got the advantage!" Shaylene said. "I say once we all get our first badge, we get together and battle." She looked at CJ. "I can't wait to kick your butt in battle!"

"Your starter may have the advantage over mine, but once that Pokemon Bank comes out, I'm transferring Riley over and you're gonna get busted by my favorite Mega Evo."

"I should've guessed your favorite Mega would be Lucario." Shaylene asked. "So, why'd you name him Riley?"

"Cuz I suck at nicknames." CJ said. "So I named him after the trainer who gives you the Riolu egg. But given the name of the Call of Duty dog, I think it's taken on a new meaning."

"Really? How so?" Shaylene asked.

"Well, the dog in Ghosts is named Riley, and I think if Pokemon were real, Lucario would be my most trustworthy companion." CJ said.

"I guess that makes sense." Shaylene said. "So... what if Pokemon _were_ real? What do you guys think would be your main Pokemon and hometown would be?"

"Typhlosion for me." Dayan said. "And probably... New Bark Town."

"Steelix or Metagross." Alex said. "And definitely Olivine City."

"Lucario without a doubt." CJ said. "And... it's tough to pick, but... I'm gonna say Celestic Town in Sinnoh. Or maybe Canalave City. I dunno... somewhere rich in legends and history. What about you, Shay?"

"That's hard to say." Shaylene said. "I think Sylveon's gonna be my ace in Kalos, so maybe Sylveon would be my main. As for my hometown... If Kalos cities count, then wherever the Fairy gym is. Otherwise, probably Azalea Town."

"Ok. What if Kalos Pokemon didn't count?" CJ asked.

"Mawile." Shaylene said. "And like I said, Azalea Town."

"Mind if I ask why you'd choose Azalea Town?" CJ asked.

"It's quiet, peaceful and right next to a forest." Shaylene said. As she finished her sentence, CJ parked his car in front of a GameStop store in a rather large shopping plaza.

"Here we are." CJ said. "Let's do this..." The group got out of the car and walked toward the door.

 _ **A few weeks later...**_

Everyone was gathered at Stacey's house, scattered between the kitchen and living room. Halloween decorations lined the house and all kinds of food lined the kitchen table: veggies & dip, pizza, chicken fingers, deviled eggs, chips and a big bowl of punch mixed with gummy worms. CJ, Stacey and the others were dressed as characters from some of most recent Pokemon games. Alex was dressed as Grant, the Rock-type gym leader from Pokemon X & Y, Dayan was dressed as Marshal, the Fighting-type Elite Four member from Pokemon Black & White, Danielle was dressed as Shauntal, the Ghost-type Elite Four member from Black & White, Stacey was dressed as Caitlin, the Psychic-type Elite Four member from Black & White, Shaylene was dressed as Serena, the main female protagonist from X & Y, and CJ was dressed as Grimsley, the Dark-type Elite Four member from Black & White.

"So Stacey, CJ was telling me that you went for an endoscopy earlier in the month and they found a growth or something." Dayan said. "What's up?"

"They said I have…" Stacey paused for a moment. "Mom, what was it they said I have?"

"They found a neuroendocrine tumor." Stacey's mom said. "They were confident that it was benign, and the doctor said he's pretty sure they were able to remove it all during the endoscopy. But he wanted to send her to a neuroendocrine specialist just to be sure."

"So when are you going to the specialist?" Danielle asked.

"Not sure yet." Stacey said. "We're still working on setting up the appointment."

"Well, hopefully it doesn't take too long to get the appointment set up." Alex said.

"I hope everything works out, Stacey." Shaylene said.

Stacey smiled a small smile, expecting no one would catch it. Little did she realize, CJ noticed. "Thanks, Shaylene." She said.

"Hey, enough talk about that." CJ said. "Who's up for some Pokemon battling?"

"I haven't beaten the game yet." Stacey said. "But I'm up for it anyway."

"I'm fine with whatever." Alex said.

"Typical Alex." Dayan said. "Let's do this!"

"You guys better be ready to get wrecked by my Fairies!" Shaylene said with excitement.

"Just as confident with Pokemon as you are with Yu-Gi-Oh." CJ said with a smile.

A short time later, everyone was gathered together at the kitchen table, all with their 3DSes in hand.

"All right guys." Dayan said. "Who's next?"

"You up for a type battle, CJ?" Shaylene asked. "Fairy vs Dark."

"I'm at a bit of a disadvantage, but let's do this." CJ said. "I'll use my Grimsley team." Within a few moments, the two were locked in a heated battle. CJ sent out on of his last couple of Pokemon and Shaylene stopped for a second.

"Wait a sec. Grimsley had a Tyranitar?" Shaylene asked.

"It was on his post-game team." CJ said. "And only if you had Challenge Mode enabled in Black 2 and White 2." He smiled for a moment. "What he didn't have… was this." He then pressed a button on his 3DS and Shaylene smirked a bit.

"Mega Tyranitar." She said. "Nice."

Within a few more minutes, the two shut off their games, smiled at each other, and shook hands.

"Good game." Shaylene said.

"Yeah." CJ said. "I'm impressed. You fought hard."

A few hours later, CJ, Shaylene, Alex, Dayan and Danielle stood at the front door with Stacey.

"Awesome party, hun." CJ said.

"Yeah, I'm glad we could make it." Danielle said.

"Sweet Pokemon battles too!" Dayan said with a big grin on his face.

"See you tomorrow?" Stacey asked CJ as the others walked out the door. He gave her and kiss and smiled.

"Yes you will." He said. "I'll text you when I get home."

"Please do." Stacey said. "Love you."

"Love you too." CJ said, as he stepped outside, closing the door behind him. Everyone climbed into his car and soon pulled out of Stacey's driveway.


	4. Forgotten Faroku & Sheikara

**CHAPTER THREE: The Forgotten Faroku & Sheikara**

 **(November & December)**

CJ stood in a long line of people outside his local GameStop. The streetlights cast a gentle glow on the parking lot, and pierced the dark of night. CJ checked his phone. 11:25 PM. He turned to his right and saw Stacey walking over toward him.

"If you're cold, you can stay in the car." He said. "In fact, you didn't have to come with me at all, silly head."

"I know, but I wanted to be with you." Stacey said. "And I have my hot chocolate."

"Oh you." CJ said, chuckling a little bit.

"You excited?" Stacey asked.

"I was excited before we left." CJ said. "This is my first time going to a midnight release for a game. Never in a million years did I imagine that my first midnight release would be a Call of Duty game though. But Ghosts looks like fun. I can't wait to check out Squads. All the fun of multiplayer without the annoyance of tryhards, campers and squeakers. And after all the stupid crap I had to deal with over the last few months of playing Modern Warfare 3, it'll be nice to get into a new CoD. Especially since most of the guys in my clan have been playing Black Ops 2. It'll be cool to play with them again."

Before long, midnight came, and the line started moving. It was maybe 15 minutes before CJ walked into GameStop. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a receipt.

"You're all set, man." The clerk said, handing him a game case.

"Awesome. Thanks." CJ said.

"Have a great night." The clerk said.

"Thanks! You too!" CJ said as he walked out. He headed over to his car, climbed into the driver's seat and looked at Stacey, who was already sitting in the passenger seat. "Got it." He smiled.

"Cool." Stacey said, as CJ pulled out of the parking lot. He headed home, played for an hour or so, and then the two went to bed.

A few weeks later, CJ walked back into his local GameStop.

"Good afternoon, how can I help you?" The clerk asked.

"Yeah, I pre-ordered Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds." CJ said.

"Ok. And do you have a Power-Up Rewards card with us?" The clerk said.

"I do, but I don't have it on me." CJ said.

"Ok, what's the phone number?" The clerk asked. CJ gave him his phone number. The clerk typed it into the computer. "CJ?"

"Yup." CJ said.

"All right, so you've got $15 down on it already, so… your total comes to $24.99." The clerk said. CJ handed him a $20 and a $10. The clerk handed him his change and game. "Have a good one."

"Thanks. You too." CJ said with a smile.

A short time later, he was hanging at home with Alex, Dayan, Danielle and Shaylene.

"So CJ, how's Ghosts?" Dayan asked.

"I love it." CJ said. "It's tons of fun. You gonna buy it?"

"Nah, I'm kinda done with Call of Duty." Dayan said. "Think I might try to get into Battlefield."

"Yeah, I can't say I blame you." CJ said. "After that invisible hacker on MW3, I considered quitting too. But Ghosts looked cool, so I wanted to give it a chance."

"I can understand that." Dayan said.

"You guys wanna Pokemon battle?" Shaylene asked.

"I dunno. I'm kinda itching for some duels." Dayan said. Shaylene quickly reached into her backpack and pulled out her Yu-Gi-Oh cards.

"All right let's do this!" She said excitedly.

"Well shit." CJ said. "I think you've found your opponent."

"Hey CJ, what are you and Stacey doing next week for Thanksgiving?" Danielle asked.

"The plan was to have dinner with her and her family." CJ said. "Then, I assumed Alex would be spending it with you guys, so I figured I'd drop by for dessert…"

"Oh… I see how it is." Shaylene said with a sad look on her face.

CJ cleared his throat. "I wasn't done." He said. "I'd drop by for dessert _before heading over to see Shay and her family._ " He made sure to put emphasis on the last part.

"Oh." Shaylene said. "My bad."

"Stacey coming with you?" Danielle asked.

"Nah, it'll probably just be me." CJ said.

"Ok. That's cool." Danielle said. The gang spent the rest of the afternoon switching between playing Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokemon, before Dayan and Danielle headed home around 11:00 PM or so.

"Come on, Shay." CJ said. "I'll drive you home."

"Actually, since it's Friday, I was wondering if maybe I could sleepover." Shaylene questioned.

"If it's ok with your parents." CJ said, as the two walked outside. "Come on. I'll have to drive you home to pick up some stuff anyway if they say yes."

 _ **About a week later…**_

CJ was standing in Stacey's kitchen with her, her sister Janelle, and their mom.

"Isn't your dad coming down to join us?" CJ asked, looking at the four places set at the table.

"No. He's having Thanksgiving with Gram." Stacey said. "We're going to his house for dessert if you want to come."

"I already told D and D that I'd have dessert at their place." CJ said.

"Ok that's fine." Stacey said.

"Everything's done." Stacey's mom said. "Help yourselves." CJ looked at the food spread out across the stove top and kitchen counter: turkey pie, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, bread stuffing and of course his favorite dish: green bean casserole.

"Sorry hun." Stacey said. "Mom made green bean casserole. I know how much you hate it."

"Shut up." CJ said, chuckling a bit. Everyone loaded some plate onto their food, except Stacey, who filled her plate with mostly mashed potatoes. "Want some dinner with your potatoes, hun?" CJ laughed. Stacey pouted. "Oh come on, I'm just teasing you." CJ grabbed his fork and took a bite of green bean casserole.

"You hate it, don't you?" Stacey said.

"Delicious as always." CJ said with a smile.

Not too long later, CJ and Stacey were standing at her front door.

"Well, I've got more Thanksgiving visits to make." CJ said.

"Ok." Stacey said, a bit of disappointment in her voice.

"Oh stop that." CJ said. "We'll see each other tomorrow or Saturday."

"Ok." Stacey said. "Don't forget. I have that appointment with the endocrine specialist on December 5."

"I wouldn't dream of forgetting." CJ said. "I'm here for you, no matter what happens."

"Thank you." Stacey said. CJ smiled and gave her a quick kiss.

"I love you." He said.

"I love you too." Stacey said. "Text me later?"

"Of course." CJ said, walking out.

A short time later, he was sitting on the floor around a rectangular coffee table in a small apartment not too far from his house. Sitting on the couch were Dayan and Danielle, and in a nearby chair was Alex.

"We have another chair, ya know." Dayan said, glancing toward the computer chair in the corner of the room.

"Nah, it's cool." CJ said. "I'm perfectly comfortable."

"So what do you want for dessert?" Danielle asked.

"That depends on what you have?" CJ asked.

"Apple pie, pumpkin pie, blue-" Danielle started to list off dessert but was quickly interrupted by CJ.

"Pumpkin." CJ said. "That's not even a question."

"Nah man." Alex said. "Apple's where it's at."

"Pfft. It's not Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie." CJ said.

"So how's Stacey?" Dayan asked.

"She's ok." CJ said. "Worried about the tumor, but otherwise ok. She has her appointment with the specialist next Thursday."

"So we'll finally have an answer?" Dayan asked.

"Hopefully." CJ said.

 _ **About an hour later…**_

"Well, I hate to eat and run," CJ said. "But I did promise that I'd visit Shay."

"Don't sweat it dude." Dayan said. "It's a busy holiday for you. You've got too many families." CJ laughed.

"I guess he do." He responded, opening the apartment door. "I guess I'll catch you guys later."

"Later dude. Happy Thanksgiving." Danielle said.

"Happy Thanksgiving, guys." CJ said, walking out.

Roughly 10 minutes later, he pulled into Shaylene's driveway and climbed out of the car. Before he had even reached the door, it opened and Shaylene came running out.

"Hi." She said with excitement.

"Hey you." CJ said, as Shaylene grabbed his arm and yanked on it, leading him up the driveway and into the house. "Well, this is a side of you I haven't seen in a while. The last time you tugged on my arm like this was when you were still a kid."

"I'm sorry, I'll stop being so excited." Shaylene said. She and CJ walked over to the kitchen table, where Jennette, her parents and her brother were sitting. He had brown eyes, spiked dirty blonde hair and wore a black t-shirt and jeans.

"What's up, CJ?" Shaylene's brother, Steven, asked.

"Not a whole lot." CJ said. "How's that book coming along?"

"Pretty good." Steven said. "I'm like a third of the way done. Maybe a bit more."

"Congrats." CJ said. "Let me know when it's done and published. I'd love to read it."

"I'll definitely do that." Steven said.

"So, how's school going, CJ?" Brenda asked.

"Not too bad." CJ said.

"What classes are you taking?" Dave asked.

"College Algebra & Trig, and Abnormal Psych." CJ said.

"Interested in Psychology?" Brenda questioned.

"No, but I needed a Psych elective, and Abnormal Psych seemed like an interesting choice." CJ responded.

"What degree are you going for again?" Dave asked.

"Just an Associate's in Liberal Arts." CJ said. "But it's a concentration in Physical Science. After I'm done with that, I plan to go for a Bachelor's in Meteorology at UML. Hopefully, I'll have knocked most, if not all, of my basic courses out of the way at NECC."

"Shay's interested in weather, too." Steven said. "What sparked your interest?"

CJ chuckled. "Sparked."

"The pun was completely unintentional, I swear." Steven said with a laugh.

"Actually, it was thunderstorms, for the most part." CJ said. "I've always been fascinated by thunderstorms, yet simultaneously terrified of them. From being a little kid living in a house surrounded by trees to being a preteen living along the Merrimack, all the way up to high school, standing outside when I lived next door staring up Main Street at the dark clouds on the horizon. It wasn't until a couple of years ago that I really understood that weather was where I ultimately wanted to go in life."

"Really?" Brenda asked.

"Here's the thing… Back when I was still going to the Nazarene Church, I helped out at Vacation Bible School by teaching one of the groups of kids. The experience of teaching that group of kids, coupled with the fun and energy of my job as a crossing guard, sparked a small interest in teaching, and I spent a couple of years in college pursuing an Associate's in Elementary Ed."

"So… what led to change back to an interest in meteorology?" Dave questioned.

"Give him a min, Dad." Jennette said.

"He's getting to that part." Shay smiled.

"A couple summers ago, after failing an intro to teaching course for my second time, I started to really wonder whether or not I really wanted to teach." CJ said. "And then something happened one evening. One typical summer evening. It was hot, humid, and storms were starting to develop out in the western end of the state. Nothing out of the ordinary was going on. But that was all about to change. I had 7News's interactive radar page open on my laptop, and I was monitoring the weather, anxiously hoping for a thunderstorm. Everything else was pretty normal. I was playing video games and occasionally checking the radar. And that's when it happened. Something that I've only seen a few times around here. We were under a tornado watch. Mildly alarming, but nothing too worrisome. Or so I thought. First it was a watch, and then it was a warning. Hampden and Worcester Counties. I turned off my game and switched the TV over to 7News. I sat there, watching the live weather reports for at least three or four hours. I watched the weather and witnessed something I can barely remember happening in my lifetime. An actual tornado was on the ground somewhere in Massachusetts. I knew it had happened before, but I never actually been watching the news and weather as it happened. I was glued to the TV. Enthralled by what was going on. As I sat there watching the news that night, I heard reports of more tornadoes sprouting up around New England. It was terrifying and fascinating."

"Fascinating?" Steven questioned.

"It was like nothing I had ever seen. Almost like a fairy tale or a movie. I kept watching. The first tornado raged on for close to an hour. Tore a half-mile wide, 37-mile long path through two counties. Did over $140 million in damage. And had winds around 160 mph. An EF3 tornado. Almost unheard of for this part of the country. Became known as the Greater Springfield Tornado. The most amazing part? This is a part of the country that rarely gets tornadoes and isn't prepared for them, and yet we got a tornado near the strength of your average tornado in the Midwest, and it miraculously only claimed 3 lives. It was a 3 and a half hour long tornado outbreak, and those 3 casualties were the only lives lost. And this was only about a week after the devastating EF5 tornado that tore through Joplin, Missouri. Stacey looked at me, and just said 'Why aren't you going to school for weather again?' And it hit me. I had just spent several hours glued to the TV because of a tornado outbreak, both in fear and fascination. Fear that the same storms could make their way to our part of the state, and fascination that I was witnessing something so rare. I spent the next several days reading and posting news articles about the outbreak. And I quickly dropped the teaching major and went for the closest thing I could find to a meteorology program, which turned about Liberal Arts with a Physical Science/Earth Science concentration." CJ said.

About an hour or so later, CJ, Shay and her family were standing at the side door of her house.

"Well, it was great seeing you, CJ." Brenda said. "Don't be a stranger."

"Wait!" Shaylene squeaked. "Mom, Dad… Can I hang out at CJ's for a little while?"

"Sure." Dave said. He glanced at his watch. "But CJ, bring her back by… 11."

"Of course." CJ said. He and Shaylene walked out the door, with Shaylene closing it behind them.

"You left out some details in your story." Shaylene said.

"What do you mean?" CJ asked, as they got into his car.

"Like how you asked to have me in your group at VBS, and how you've been crushing on me since I was like 10 or 11, and how that led you to want to teach." Shaylene said. "And how you've been beating yourself up for 5 years for liking someone 10 years younger than you. Or the fact that you took Abnormal Psych in the hopes of understanding why, as a young man in college, you had romantic feelings for an elementary/middle school student."

"Yeah, because those details would have gone over so well." CJ said.

"What? You mean you crushing hard on me?" Shaylene asked. "It's no secret to Mom and Dad. They know. And they know how I feel about you. But they trust you. Mom's even said it to you before. She trusts that you wouldn't take advantage of me."

"Yeah… I guess." CJ said.

"Besides." Shaylene said. "How many opportunities in the past 5 years have you had where you could have taken advantage of me?"

CJ hesitated for a moment. "Can we… Talk about anything else? Please?"

"I rest my case." Shaylene said. "Just the _thought_ of it is upsetting you and making you sick."

CJ pulled the car over in front of his house. "Let's… Let's just go inside and play some video games."

 _ **About a week later…**_

CJ, Stacey and her parents were sitting in a small doctor's office. CJ had his laptop on his lap, Stacey was playing her 3DS and her parents were talking. The office was otherwise empty. A nurse walked out of a nearby door and called Stacey in to see the doctor.

CJ took a deep breath and closed his laptop.

"I want to talk to you guys." CJ said to Stacey's parents.

"What's up?" Stacey's mom asked.

CJ paused for a second and swallowed. He felt like there was a giant lump stuck in his throat.

"I've been thinking a lot about this whole ordeal, and I want Stacey to know I'm here for her, and I'll be here for her no matter what." CJ said. He paused again, and took a deep breath. "What I'm trying to get at is… I want to propose to her, and I wanted to ask for your permission first."

Stacey's dad extended his arm. "Of course." CJ shook his hand and smiled.

"Why would we say no?" Stacey's mom responded.

"Thank you." CJ said, breathing a huge sigh of relief.

Later that evening, CJ was sitting at Stacey's house, watching TV, while she stood in the kitchen, cooking. She walked into the bathroom and he smiled. He quickly rushed into her room and found a toy Poke Ball from Burger King, filled with metallic gold-plated Pokemon cards. He took the gold cards out, placed them on a nearby shelf, and reached into his pocket. He smiled as he pulled out a silver ring fitted with a small stone of Aquamarine in between two white Sapphires. He placed it inside the Poke Ball. He quickly rushed back to the couch and sat down before Stacey walked out of the bathroom.

A few minutes later, he walked over near the stove, next to Stacey, with his hands behind his back. He felt like the lump was back in his throat, his hands were sweating, and he had that butterfly feeling in his stomach.

"Hi." Stacey said cutely.

"Stacey…" CJ said. "I know you're scared with everything that's happened lately. I know you're worried about the tumor. And I want you to know… Whatever happens, whatever they find… Whether the entire tumor is gone, or there's more of it, or there are other tumors. Whether there are other tumors or not… I'm here for you." He pulled the Poke Ball out from behind his back.

"What's that?" Stacey asked.

CJ took a deep breath and knelt down on one knee. He opened the Poke Ball, revealing the ring. "Stacey… will you marry me?"

Tears begin to form in Stacey's eyes. "Yes… yes… yes! I will!" CJ stood up and Stacey wrapped her arms around him excitedly, kissing him multiple times. He breathed a huge sigh of relief and smiled.

 _ **A few weeks later…**_

CJ and Stacey were sitting at her house, watching TV, and CJ was on his computer. He opened his email and glanced at the new email in his inbox.

He looked at the subject: "Financial Aid". He opened the email and began to read:

" _Federal regulations require the college to monitor all students' Satisfactory Academic Progress by reviewing their cumulative grade point average and percentage of cumulative credits earned at the conclusion of each semester. After reviewing your academic record, we have found that you continue to not meet the standards or our Satisfactory Academic Progress policy. As a result, you are being placed on financial aid suspension for the upcoming semester…_ "

He stopped reading. "Are you kidding me?"

"What's wrong?" Stacey asked.

"I got some bullshit email saying I'm on financial aid suspension." CJ said. He continued to read the email, noticing a specific line near the end.

" _In preparation for meeting with your counselor, please read the Satisfactory Academic Progress policy at…"_ He clicked the link and began to scan it.

"Yeah, that's a load of crap." CJ said. "According to this email, I don't meet the conditions of the school's Satisfactory Academic Progress whatever thing." He quickly opened a blank email to his financial aid counselor.

" _Hi, I received an email stating that I do not meet the requirement for the SAP and am being place on financial aid suspension for the upcoming semester. But when I logged into my account and checked my grades, it says that I passed both my classes. It says that I need a minimum GPA of 1.7 and to have completed a minimum of at least 67% of courses attempted, but I completed both of my attempted courses this semester and have a GPA that's above that, so I don't understand why I am being placed on financial aid suspension. Can you please clear this up for me?"_

"Great…" CJ said. "Now, I get to go through Christmas and all of Christmas break not knowing whether or not I'll be able to go to school next semester…"

"I'm sorry hun…" Stacey said.

"Meh…" CJ said.

About a week later, CJ, Alex, Dayan, Danielle, Shaylene and Jennette were all gathered at Stacey's house around the kitchen table, which was covered in Chinese food containers filled with food.

"Well… here's to one hell of a year." CJ said, holding up a can of Coca-Cola. "Let's hope 2014's a bit less crazy… or a lot less crazy." The sound of the TV quickly caught their attention.

" _Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven!"_ The gang quickly joined in.

"Six! Five! Four! Three! Two! One! HAPPY NEW YEAR!" Everyone exclaimed in unison. Before she could react, CJ wrapped his arm around Stacey and pulled her in for a kiss. Danielle couldn't help but smile as Dayan did the same.

"Aw, Happy New Year, ya lovebugs." Jennette said.

"I'm kinda jeal-" Shaylene's sentence was cut off as CJ gave her a quick peck on the lips.

Stacey glared at him. He shot the gaze right back.

"It's New Year's hun." He said. "It's a special day and a brand new year, and I wanted to ring it in showing the two girls I love most that they mean the world to me." Stacey and Shaylene both couldn't help but smile.

"I'll let it slide." Stacey said.

"Besides…" CJ said, pointing up. "The three of us accidentally stood under the mistletoe."

"I'm not kissing her." Stacey said. CJ laughed.

"Happy New Year everyone." He said.


	5. The Impossible - A Real-Life Ray Sphere

**CHAPTER FOUR: The Impossible – A Real Life Ray Sphere**

CJ sat at his laptop, checking his email. He stopped when he noticed an email with a subject that read "RE: Financial Aid Suspension". He quickly opened it and began to read.

" _Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I was able to clear the suspension. You are currently meeting the overall terms of Satisfactory Academic Progress, but you did not meet the terms of your probation which put you on suspension. Fortunately, the Satisfactory Academic Progress criteria trumps that of your probation. You are no longer on suspension and will be awarded financial aid within the next few days based on your status. If you have any other questions please let me know. Have a wonderful day!"_

"Phew... That's a relief." CJ said. He picked up his phone and typed up a quick text message.

" _Guess what hun? I got financial aid. I was put on suspension by mistake._ " CJ wrote.

" _Awesome!_ " Stacey replied. CJ looked up as he heard the sound of someone coming downstairs from the second floor. He opened his door and walked out into the hall, where Alex was walking down the stairs.

"Hey, when do you head back to school?" CJ asked.

"About a week." Alex replied.

"How much longer do you have left?" CJ questioned.

"All goes well, I should be done this winter." Alex said.

"Nice." CJ said.

 _ **A few days later...**_

A group of construction workers popped several large pieces of wood off of a doorway on an old building at the end of a bridge. Wrapping around the corner of the building at the edge of the 4-way intersection was a brown banner that read "Location… Location… Location… Property Available" and above that was a smaller blue banner that read "Harbor Place: Coming Soon!" The workers cleared the doorway and entered the building.

"All right guys." One of the workers said. "Let's get the charges set and clear out."

"Yes sir!" The workers began to walk around the building, placing explosives on various structural beams throughout the building.

"Hey what's this?" One of the guys questioned. "It looks like... some kind of machine."

"What?" The boss asked. "The crew said this place was cleared out last week. Shouldn't be any machinery in here."

"This ain't no machinery I've evah seen." Another worker said, with a fairly thick Boston accent. One of the workers picked up the mysterious device. It was a small spherical device that had a single power switch and several tubes filled with a neon red liquid attached to it.

"Steve, don't touch that." Another worker said. But it was too late. The worker flipped the switch. The device began to glow and vibrate before letting out an audible beeping sound.

"Shit! It's a bomb!" The boss shouted. "Run!"

" _The building was engulfed in a fiery explosion that leveled a quarter-mile radius surrounding the blast site: the local grocery store, city hall, library, police station, fire station and most of the city's downtown banks. The blast itself could be felt as far away as the next city. Panicked citizens were frantically calling 911, some reporting an explosion, others thinking it was earthquake._

 _Chaos ensued. The emergency workers that weren't within the blast radius radioed nearby towns and cities for help with the situation. Crews frantically searched the buildings that were destroyed for survivors, expecting to find nothing more than piles of rubble on top of dead bodies. Miraculously, they were shocked to find several people who survived not only the initial blast, but also the collapsing of buildings on top of them._

 _But there was more that developed out of the blast. More than just pain and heartache. More than just loss. More than just miraculous survivors._

 _The first few days after the blast were normal. Nothing seemed different. But almost a week after that incident, which news media branded a terrorist attack, something bizarre happened._

 _I awoke to a strange feeling. Something I couldn't explain. Not accurately anyway. I just knew that something felt... different about my body. I wasn't sure what, but something had changed. I felt... I guess a new energy in my body. One that was never there before. And if it was, I never noticed it."_

CJ sat up in bed. Despite having just awoken from a full night's sleep, something didn't feel right. He felt weak, like he had no energy. He threw the covers off of himself and gasped at the sight of his abdomen.

Where he used to have a little bit of a flabby belly was now more toned. But what shocked him most was the tattoo on his chest. He never had a single tattoo. Sure, he had considered it, but he could never afford it. So where did this one come from? He looked at it. It was a single red eye shedding a lone tear. Above the eye were three small triangles: one pointing straight up, one pointing diagonally left, and one diagonally right. He recognized it immediately.

 _That's the Sheikah symbol!_ He thought. _But... when did I get that? When... when did I get so..._ He stopped for a moment as a new thought struck him. _What if-? No... It couldn't possibly..._

He stopped up, quickly got dressed, and stepped outside. It was surprisingly balmy for an early-to-mid January day. But that didn't mean the ground was snow free. Being New England, there was a decent 7 or 8 inches of snow that had dropped over the past week or so. Which was a surprisingly welcome change from the near complete lack of snow in November and December. He climbed into his car and drove about a mile and a half down the road and came to a small park on the edge of the woods. He parked his car where he could and headed into the woods.

"Time to find out if my theory is right." CJ said. He raised his hand, stretching out his arm in front of him, so that his palm was facing the same direction as him. He focused for a moment, and was shocked as his hand gave off a purple aura. He thrust his palm forward and watched as a blast of purple energy shot out of his palm, striking and cutting down a nearby tree. "Just as I thought..." He watched as a purple medallion manifested in front of him. In the center of the medallion was an upside down triangle. Next to each side of the triangle was a circular mark. "This can't be good..."

" _Somehow, the explosion downtown had given me powers identical to those my character had in my fanfictions... the same powers I had only months earlier. Before my wish to return my friends… and myself, to our normal lives... our lives before the Crystal Wii remote and before Hyrule._

 _I still got my wish. My friends are I were back to our old lives. I had righted my biggest wrong. Shaylene had her family back. And I was only one who remembered our time in Hyrule._

 _But I could feel it... Because of that strange explosion, I had my powers back. I was the Sage of Shadow again. Change was coming, and I needed to be ready. If I had my powers back, it likely meant that my friends did as well. And with Alex, Aubrey and Jennette preparing to head back out of town for school, I needed to alert them before they discovered their new powers in the wrong place and at the wrong time..."_

CJ pulled out his phone and sent a quick text to Alex.

" _You home?"_ The text questioned.

" _Yeah."_ Alex's reply read.

" _Good. Get in touch with Aubrey."_ CJ typed back. _"I got a couple questions to ask you guys."_

" _I have a couple questions for you too."_ Alex responded.

" _I'll be home in 20 minutes or so."_ CJ typed. He opened his contacts, clicked on the one that read "Jennette" and clicked the "CALL" button.

" _Hey CJ. What's up?"_ Jennette asked from the other line.

"Are you and Shay busy?" CJ asked.

" _No. Want to come over?"_

"No, I want you guys to come to my place in about 15 or 20 minutes." CJ replied.

" _Okay. We've got something we were hoping you might be able to clear up for us, but it's better done in person anyway. We'll see you in a few."_

 _ **A short time later…**_

CJ, Alex, Aubrey, Jennette and Shaylene were all gathered in Alex's room. Aubrey and Jennette were sitting on Alex's futon, Alex was sitting as his computer desk, Shaylene was sitting on the floor, and CJ was standing.

"Ok. So I bet you're all wondering why I gathered you here today." CJ said. He smirked a bit. "Sorry we couldn't have our shady business meeting in an elevator." His look then turned serious again. "No, but seriously…"

"Does you calling us here have anything to do with this?" Aubrey asked, holding up a small light green medallion. On it was a simple leaf-life symbol.

"Actually… yes, it does." CJ said.

"So this is exactly what I thought it was." Jennette said, holding up a small orange medallion bearing two teardrop symbols. The two swirled together to form a symbol similar to a yin-yang symbol, only the droplets were separated by a small amount of space rather than being connected. "The Spirit Medallion."

"Yes." CJ said. "Somehow… when that explosion happened downtown at the old Woolworth building… I don't understand how, or why, but it seems to have given us our Sage abilities and roles from my Zelda stories."

"Shouldn't everyone be here for this?" Alex asked.

"Theoretically, yes." CJ said. "But I was primarily concerned for you, Aubrey and Jennette, since the three of you will be out of town for the next few months because of school. I wanted to ensure that you guys knew about your powers before leaving, and some freak incident didn't cause you to discover them in a scary way while away at school. Shay's only here because Jennette's here."

"Well…" Shaylene started to say something, but CJ stopped her.

"And she looks for just about any excuse to hang out with me." CJ said.

"So… a building exploded and now we have superpowers?" Aubrey asked.

"Magic." CJ said. "But yeah, basically."

"Ok… So… what's the deal with our magic?" Alex said. "If we've become real-life versions of us in your stories, I'm assuming you know how our magic works and what we can do?"

"That's the whole reason I figured it out." CJ said. "Well… this is." He lifted up his shirt, showing off the Sheikah symbol tattoo he now had.

"Aw cool! That's the Sheikah mark!" Shaylene said.

"I saw it when I woke up this morning, and the first thing I thought was 'What if I have my story powers?' So I went out to the woods around Kenoza and tested it. That's when I figured, if I have my powers, then everyone else probably does too. I was gonna ask you guys if you noticed or felt anything unusual this morning when you woke up, but as soon as I saw Aubrey's and Jennette's medallions, I had my answer."

"The powers are all essentially elemental, right?" Jennette asked.

"Yes." CJ said.

"Okay, so I'm the Sage of Spirit, Aubrey's the Sage of Wind…" Jennette said. "What about everyone else?"

"If it worked out just like my stories," CJ said, "then Alex is the Sage of Earth, Dayan is the Sage of Ice, Danielle is the Sage of the Forest, Janelle is Sage of Fire, Stacey is the Sage of Water, and Shay and I…" Shaylene interrupted him.

"…Are the Sages of Light and Shadow." She said, holding up a golden medallion.

"Which brings me back to asking how our powers work." Alex said.

"Well, the four basic elemental Sages – Fire, Water, Wind and Earth – Janelle, Stacey, Aubrey and Alex, have powers that work in a fashion very similar to the Firebenders, Waterbenders, Airbenders and Earthbenders of the Avatar universe." CJ said. "But a major difference is that you don't need to seek out your element to use it. In Alex's and Aubrey's case it won't matter. Earth and Wind are all around us, and the same can be argued for Stacey as well."

"What about the other elementals? Ice, Forest, Light and Shadow?" Aubrey asked.

"Dayan and Danielle's powers – the powers of Ice and Forest, work similar to Ice and Grass type Pokemon, with a bit of a mix of the Bender element." CJ said. "Every Sage has the ability to create concentrated magic of their own element. But they also possess the ability to harness the naturally-occurring instances of their element around them."

"So I could use my powers in a manner similar to Rock and Ground type Pokemon?" Alex questioned.

"Yes." CJ said. "Steel-types too, assuming your near any unrefined metal."

"Like Metalbending." Alex said.

"Exactly like Metalbending." CJ said. "Now… Mine and Shay's powers. Shadow and Light. Like everyone else, we have the ability to create pure concentrated forms of light and shadow, and can manipulate our element like a bender. But we also have a unique skill that other Sages don't have. Because of the coexistent unity between Light and Shadow, or Light and Darkness, or for the sake of the explanation, Light and Absence of Light, we can manipulate each other's element in a way that we can extract our own element from it. Shaylene can draw Light from the Shadows, and I can draw Shadows from the Light."

"What about me?" Jennette asked.

"Your powers are also very unique." CJ said. "Like everyone else, you can create pure spiritual energy, and manipulate the spiritual energy around you. But you also have the ability to communicate with spirits, sense the presence of spirits, and manipulate the spiritual energy within someone's body. Think of it as somewhat comparable to the Energy Bending that Aang learned from the ancient Lion Turtle."

"Wow that's cool." Jennette said.

"Of course, every Sage has unique abilities that the others don't. Or abilities that only one other Sage might have." CJ said. "The Sage of Fire has natural resistance to heat and has the ability to, like some Firebenders, redirect lightning. The Sage of Water has a natural resistance to fire and ice, the ability to communicate with sea creatures, and the ability to heal physical injuries using water, similar to the Waterbending healers."

"Wow." Alex said. "What about us?"

"Aside from your earth and metal manipulating abilities, Alex, you have a natural resistance to electricity. Aubrey, you and the Sage of Water share a unique ability in the fact that you can manipulate clouds. Jennette, similar to how the Sage of Water can heal physical injuries, you can heal spiritual injuries." CJ said.

"Spiritual injuries?" Jennette asked, puzzled.

"Injuries to one's spiritual energy that might lead to a weakening of their powers, or a weakened physical state, or even a physical imbalance to their body's normal functions. Kind of along the lines of the guru that Aang visited in an attempt to realign his chakras." CJ said.

"That's an impressive skill." Aubrey said.

"The Sage of Ice naturally has a resistance to cold and ice." CJ said. "The Sage of the Forest has a natural resistance to poison, can manipulate trees and plants, and can communicate with animals."

"What? Jealous!" Shaylene said.

"And finally, Light and Shadow." CJ said. "Both have a natural ability to sense dark or evil energy. The Sage of Light also has the ability to redirect lightning…" He looked at Shaylene. "Though I don't want you running out in a thunderstorm and trying it."

"There's that big brother side of you again." Jennette said, smiling.

"The Sage of Light can also sometimes create lightning, under the proper circumstances." CJ said. "As for me… as the Sage of Shadow, I have a natural resistance to elemental magic and a mild resistance to dark magic."

"Why elemental?" Alex asked.

"To be honest, I'm not sure." CJ said. "When I first devised the Sages' powers, I had been playing a lot of Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles, and I was working on a Zelda crossover story with it. I'm not really sure what made me choose to give my character a resistance to elemental magic. Though it's specifically only Fire, Water, Wind and Earth."

"So. Assuming our powers are exactly as you wrote them in your stories, you'll be able to train us in how to use them?" Jennette asked.

"Of course." CJ said. "But first, we should inform the others about what's going on."

 _ **A short time later…**_

Everyone was gathered together at Stacey's house.

"So… you're saying an explosion gave us all superhuman abilities?" Dayan asked.

"Yeah." CJ said.

"An explosion that leveled a quarter-mile radius of the city?" Dayan responded.

"Yes." CJ replied.

"You realize what this sounds like, right?" Dayan questioned.

"inFamous." CJ said. "It sounds like we're real live versions of Cole MacGrath and the Conduits."

"Exactly." Dayan said.

"One difference though." CJ said. "If we have my story powers, we don't need to recharge our element like Cole did."

"We're going to need to learn how to harness our abilities." Dayan said. "What if this turns out to be a situation like inFamous?"

"You mean if we become a city like Empire City? A city filled with people with powers trying to survive, quarantined by the government?" CJ questioned.

"The good news is that there doesn't seem to be a crazy plague killing everyone." Dayan said.

"You're right." CJ said. "But if there's other people with powers, we should be ready. Either to fight them or help them control their powers."

"Wait… how are you going to train everyone?" Aubrey asked. "Our elements are different."

"CJ?"

"Yeah, Shay?"

Shaylene held up her hand. "Our powers aren't the only thing that became real." CJ gasped as the glowing mark on her hand. It was three triangles standing point-to-point to form a larger triangle. A symbol any Legend of Zelda fan knew as the Triforce. He looked as his own hand and saw the same mark.

He held up his hand for everyone else to see. "The Triforce is real." CJ said.

"So that's what this is?" Stacey asked, holding up her hand, aglow with the symbol as well.

"Just like my stories." CJ said. "Stacey has the Triforce of Courage, Shaylene has the Triforce of Wisdom and I have the Triforce of Power… Which brings about the answer to Aubrey's question." He checked around his neck, reached into his shirt, and pulled out a small triangular gold amulet. Embedded in it, forming a Triforce, were three triangular stones: One of Garnet, one of Jade and one of Aquamarine. "This is the Amulet of Power. One of the amulet's powers is the ability to tap into and use another Sage's magic. _That_ is how I'll train you guys. By using your own magic right along with you."

"So, are we going to each get one-on-one training?" Jennette asked.

"Yes and no." CJ said. "While yes, I will train each of you individually, it'll be group training in the sense that we'll all be training at the same time. And when I think you've got a comfortable handle on your powers, I will have you guys practice using them against each other."

"Wait… we're gonna _what_?" Alex asked.

"You heard me." CJ said. "We're going to spar against each other with our magic."

"Where do you plan on training us?" Dayan asked. "And when?"

"I want to make sure Alex, Aubrey and Jennette have a solid handle on their powers before going back to school." CJ said. "We don't need any incidents. So I was thinking this Saturday or Sunday. The where is still being worked on. I haven't quite figured that one out just yet. Does that work for everyone?"

"Fine by me." Jennette said.

"No complaints here." Aubrey said.

"Yeah, sure." Alex replied in his usual tone, indicating his typical attitude of seemingly not caring one way or the other.

"Cool." CJ said. "Head home. Relax and we'll catch up this weekend. I'll shoot you guys a text in a day or two, once I know for sure where we'll train."

Later that evening, Shaylene and Jennette were sitting on their couch playing video games, when the back door creaked open.

"Girls? You home?" They heard their dad call from the kitchen.

"In the living room, dad!" Shaylene responded.

"Can you come out to the kitchen for a moment, please?" Their mom called back.

"Be right there!" Jennette replied. Within a moment, the girls walked out in the kitchen and stood with their parents at the small island in the center of the room.

"We need to talk about something, girls." Brenda said.

"Is everything okay, Mom?" Jennette asked.

"Yes, sweetie." Brenda said. "We just wanted you to know that your father and I were thinking about beginning the process of selling the house."

"What? No! We can't!" Shaylene exclaimed. "I don't want to move! All my friends are here!"

"We're not leaving town." Dave said. "We were thinking that since your brother is moving out and your sister is away a lot for school, it might be a good idea to move into a smaller place. Your mother and I are already looking at part of a two-family home just across town."

"And it's a three-bedroom home." Brenda said. "So Jennette, there will be a room for you when you come back from school. If you want, we can drive over and check it out this week sometime."

"Okay." Shaylene said.

 _ **Later that week...**_

A dark gray car pulled up in front of a three-story, blueish gray house around sunset.

"Wait... is this it?" Shaylene questioned.

"This is it." Brenda said.

"No way!" Shaylene cheered. "CJ's gonna be our neighbor again?"

"Yes sweetie." Brenda said. "If we go through with the deal."

"Please please _please_?" Shaylene begged. Dave chuckled.

"Sounds like a resounding yes from her, dear." He said.

"I'll say it is." Brenda smiled. "We'll make some calls tomorrow morning."


	6. Wesen and Grimm Or Sages and Monsters?

**CHAPTER FIVE: Wesen and Grimm...**

 **Or Sages and Monsters?**

CJ sat in his room, typing away on his laptop. He stopped when he heard a knock on his window. He pulled back the curtain and saw Shaylene and Jennette standing there. He motioned for them to wait a moment, got up and walked out of his room to the front door.

"What's up?" He asked.

"We're gonna be neighbors again!" Shaylene said excitedly, wrapping her arms around CJ.

"Wait what?" CJ asked, confused.

"We're moving into the other condo." Shaylene said. "Well… Mom and Dad are looking into buying it."

"Oh cool." CJ said. "I was wondering if anyone was gonna buy the place. We're practically gonna be living in the same house."

"I know! Isn't it awesome?" Shaylene could barely contain her excitement. "Can we hang out for a while?"

"Sure." CJ said. "You staying too, Jennette?"

"Can't." Jennette said. "I've got to finish packing. I head back to school tomorrow."

"Dang." CJ said. "Well that stinks."

"Yeah, a little bit." Jennette said. "When should I come back to pick her up?"

"Don't worry about it." CJ said. "I'll drive her home later."

"Are you sure?" Jennette asked.

"Positive." CJ said.

"Ok. I'll catch you later. Have fun, sis." Jennette said, before walking to her car and driving off. CJ and Shaylene walked into his room and sat down on the bed.

"Wanna go see a movie?" CJ asked.

"What movie?" Shaylene asked.

"I dunno. Any particular movie you want to see?" CJ inquired. "If you say that Justin Bieber movie, I'm driving you home."

Shaylene gagged. "Ew. I think I just threw up in my mouth. Thanks."

CJ laughed. "You're welcome."

"Let's find out what movies are playing." Shaylene said.

CJ grabbed his laptop and opened the website for the local movie theater. "Well. Here are your choices."

Shaylene looked at the screen. "My choices suck."

"Ok, so no movie." CJ said. "Wanna go out to eat?"

"This sounds date-ish…" Shaylene said.

"What? A guy can't take his best female friend out to eat or the movies?" CJ questioned. "Besides, need I remind you that I'm engaged?"

Shaylene chuckled. "I'm just messing with you. So where do you wanna go to eat?"

"Your choice." CJ said.

"Really?" Shaylene asked.

"Yes really." CJ said.

"Ok seriously, this kinda feels date-ish to me now." Shaylene said. "Movies, dinner, my choice."

CJ just looked at her. "It's not a date." He said sounding slightly agitated.

"Ok ok. It's not a date… Sorry." Shaylene said, looking down at her feet. "Can we go to… the 99?"

"Sure." CJ said.

An hour or so later, CJ and Shaylene walked out of their local 99 Restaurant and climbed into CJ's car. Shortly after pulling out of the parking lot and driving down the road a bit, they were stopped by a police roadblock. Just beyond the roadblock was an ambulance, several police officers, paramedics, and what appeared to be a crash involving a single car that had run off the road into a tree.

"Yikes." CJ said. "That doesn't look good. I hope the driver's okay." He watched as the officer in front of the roadblock redirected the cars in front of him down a nearby side street. He soon reached the front of the line of cars and turned down the road that the officer was pointing at.

"The roads aren't icy or anything." Shaylene said. "What do you think happened back there?"

"Hard to say." CJ said. "They could've swerved to avoid hitting an animal. They may have been drinking. Anything really. There's a lot of things that could've caused the crash. Maybe even a medical condition."

Later that evening, CJ and Shaylene were sitting in his room. He was typing away on his laptop and she was playing her 3DS.

"Hey, see if there's anything on the news about that crash earlier." Shaylene said.

"Okay." CJ said. He turned on the news.

" _We now go live to Steve Cooper in Haverhill, with more on this story."_

" _Thank you Adam. Police are currently searching for a driver they say disappeared after crashing their car here on River Street."_ The news reporter said, pointing to the black car on the side of the road. _"They say that this Toyota Corolla went off the road earlier this afternoon, crashing through the guardrail and striking a tree along the banks of the Merrimack River. Police have not stated what they believe to be the cause of the crash, though they have stated that alcohol and speed were likely not factors. Police stated that the vehicle is registered to this man..."_ A photo of a brown-haired, brown-eyed man appeared on screen. _"Richard Bishop. Police are currently checking local area hospitals and are asking people to contact them if they see this man. As the cause of the accident is unknown, the driver may have serious injuries and is likely in need of medical attention. Live from Haverhill, Steve Cooper, 7News. Back to you, Adam."_

"That's not good." Shaylene said.

" _In other news, police in Methuen are warning citizens to be on the lookout for potentially rabid coyotes."_ The news anchor reported. _"According to police, several animals have gone missing recently, and some citizens have come forward with reports of seeing what they believe to be a coyote or wolf in the woods near their houses. Police are warning citizens to exercise caution if they are out between dusk and dawn, especially those living near wooded areas."_

"Yikes. That's kinda scary." Shaylene said.

"No kidding." CJ said. "We should be cautious as well."

"You think they're around here?" Shaylene questioned.

"It's possible." CJ said. "I know they're not being reported, but it's not impossible."

" _We have Breaking News out of Haverhill."_ The news interrupted. _"Police are searching for a teenage girl who went missing early this evening. Police say 15-year-old Gabby Stevenson was last seen leaving Haverhill High School, but her parents say she never returned home."_

"Hey I know her." Shaylene said.

"A friend of yours?" CJ asked.

"Sort of." Shaylene said. "She's friends with this freshman that I study with, and we've studied together a few times."

"You study with freshmen?" CJ asked. "Since when do you help out underclassmen?"

"This girl Emma and I just kind of hit it off." Shaylene said. "And are you implying that I'm a bad upperclasswoman?!"

CJ chuckled. "Any idea what might have happened to that girl Gabby?" He questioned.

"She doesn't live too far from NECC." Shaylene said. "She talked about the three of us going for walks in the woods around Kenoza Lake in the summer."

"You think she'd go out there in the middle of the winter?" The thought of walking through a snowy trail in the middle of winter struck CJ as strange.

"No." Shaylene said. "But she said that she likes to go for walks on the street near the lake... Kenoza Street, I think it is... The one that passes by both the lake and NECC."

"Do you want to go take a walk around the area and see what you can find?" CJ asked.

"It couldn't hurt." Shaylene responded. Before long, CJ's car pulled into a parking lot outside a large brick building. Silver letters on the building read "Technology Center". CJ and Shaylene climbed out of the car.

"Where do you want to start..." CJ stopped.

"What?" Shaylene questioned.

"I'm... not sure how to explain it, but... something doesn't feel right." CJ said.

Shaylene's eyes widened. "Yeah... I feel it too. What the hell?"

"It feels... like... evil, I guess?" CJ said, confused. "It's like I can feel the presence of some kind of energy..."

"Another part of our new powers?" Shaylene questioned.

"Well... As the Sages of Light and Shadow, we have the instinctual ability to sense dark magic." CJ replied. "That could be what we're feeling. Come on, let's try to follow the feeling and see if we can find the source."

"What about Gabby?" Shaylene asked.

"Think about it." CJ said. "I doubt we're the only ones with powers. What if she got powers and what we're sensing is her energy?"

"I didn't even think of that." Shaylene said. She and CJ rushed across the street and began pushing through the snowy woods, following the strange energy that they felt. It wasn't long before they came near a sign that normally marked a fork in the trails. Shaylene grabbed CJ's arm.

"What's up?" CJ asked.

Shaylene shushed him. "There's someone ahead. Quiet." She said, as the two ducked behind a couple of trees.

"What do you want with me?" A female's voice said. "Leave me alone!" A young, brown-eyed girl in a black jacket and jeans with dark brown hair and slightly tanned skin was laying on the ground, a menacing man in a leather jacket looming over her.

"Quiet, little girl." The man said.

"CJ, that's her." Shaylene whispered. "That's Gabby."

The man quickly spun around. "Who's there?!" Gabby let out a shriek as the man's face transformed into that of a lizard. "Ssshow yourssselvesss."

"Shay... do you recognize that creature?" CJ asked. "You were right. We aren't the only ones with powers."

"That's a Lizalfos." Shaylene said.

"Hey! Back away from the girl!" CJ shouted, as he and Shay stepped out from behind the trees.

"Try to ssstop me!" The lizard man hissed.

"I'll go after him. You get Gabby back to my car. I'll meet you guys out there once I've dealt with this guy. Call the police while you're at it." CJ said. He rushed forward and was soon locked in hand to hand combat with the lizard man. CJ's hands began to glow purple as he continued to fight the lizard man. They exchanged blow for blow, breaking even, before CJ finally saw an opportunity and struck the man in the side, causing him to fall to one knee. CJ quickly kicked the back of the other knee, causing the man to drop. He followed up by striking the man in the back of the head, knocking him face-down on the ground. He pulled off his jacket and used it to tie the man's hands up. He began to walk the man back towards the road as the man's face returned to his normal human appearance.

It wasn't long before CJ returned to the car, where Shay, Gabby and the police were waiting.

"We found him trying to assault her out in the woods." CJ said.

"You're friend already informed us of everything." An officer said. "Thank you for your help, but please, for your own safety, we ask that you don't try anything like that again." Another officer handcuffed the man and handed CJ back his jacket. Before long, they threw the man in the back of another cruiser and prepared to take Gabby home in another. The police then left, and it was just CJ and Shaylene again.

"You didn't say-" CJ began to say something. Shaylene stopped him.

"Anything about him turning into a Lizalfos?" Shaylene asked. "No."

"Good." CJ said.

"What do you think was the deal with that?" Shaylene questioned. "I expected that others would have gained powers too, but I didn't think they'd start turning into monsters."

"No kidding." CJ said. "The strange thing is, even in police custody, I still saw him as a Lizalfos."

"Good, it wasn't just me." Shaylene said.

"And I'm sure the cops saw him as human." CJ said. "What about Gabby? Did she notice him as human or Lizalfos?"

"She didn't say anything about it, but she did scream when he transformed." Shaylene said. "I assumed she saw it, but it could've been out of fear in the hopes that someone was nearby. Why?"

"I think this may be a Grimm type of situation we're in." CJ said.

"The TV show or the brothers?" Shaylene questioned.

CJ chuckled. "The show. I think whatever gave us our powers turned other people into monsters... possibly creatures from around Hyrule... and only those of us who have Sage-like abilities, or maybe only us Sages, can see them."

"That sheds new possibilities on those coyote attacks and that car crash this afternoon." Shaylene said.

"Exactly." CJ said. "Those may not be coyotes. They could be Wolfos. And that man could've been attacked. That may have caused the crash."

"Which means he was taken. He didn't flee the scene." Shaylene said.

"Or he did." CJ said. "But he was fleeing from whatever monster attacked him. We should get together with everyone and let them know what might be going on."

The next day, everyone was gathered at Stacey's house.

"Okay, so here's the thing." CJ said. "Did anyone see the news last night? About the car crash on River Street and the missing Haverhill High student?"

"Yeah, D and I saw." Dayan said.

"She turned up a few hours later, right?" Danielle asked.

"Yes." CJ said. "Shay happens to know her. We went out searching for her, after Shay told me that she lives not too far from my school. She told me that the girl, Gabby, likes to go for walks in the woods around Kenoza Lake."

"Why would a high school student be walking through the snow in the woods in the late afternoon near early evening?" Alex questioned.

"That's what I asked." CJ said. "But Shay told me that Gabby walks along Kenoza Street when she can't walk in the woods. So, we took a drive over to NECC."

"When we got out of the car, we could kind of... sense some kind of energy source." Shaylene said.

"What?" Aubrey questioned.

"It's hard to explain..." CJ said. "But it's as if we could feel the aura of someone or something. I made the assumption that because we now have these magic powers, we have a stronger ability to sense the mystical or spiritual energies of others."

"I guess that kinda makes sense." Dayan said.

"So, we followed the energy we were sensing, on the feeling that it could've potentially been Gabby." CJ said. "It led us into the woods, where we found Gabby, cornered by some creep in a leather coat."

"The energy source was strong. We assumed that it was Gabby." Shaylene said. "However, the man overheard us whispering and quickly spun to face the direction of the trees we were hiding behind."

"I realized that the man was the source of the energy signature." CJ said. "As he spun around, I saw his face transform into that of a Lizalfos from the Legend of Zelda. What's strange is that I don't think Gabby or the police that arrested the man saw him as anything other than human."

"So only you saw him as a Lizalfos?" Dayan asked.

"No. Shay did too." CJ said. "It reminded me of this TV show..." Stacey then interrupted him.

"Grimm." She said.

"Grimm?" Alex asked.

"Basically, many people in the world are human-like creatures with animal features... wolves, foxes, pigs, even mythical creatures, like Aswang, Anubis and Wendigo." CJ said. "But they have different names... Blutbad, Fuchsbau, Bauerschwein. But they appear like normal humans. They're called Wesen. Generally, when they perceive something as a threat, they Woge, which means they change from their human form to their Wesen form. However, it's only noticeable by other Wesen or by people known as Grimms."

"Like the Brothers Grimm?" Alex asked.

"Yeah." CJ said. "In the storyline of the show, the brothers weren't Grimms, unlike their ancestors, but they collected stories and myths of Wesen and compiled them together."

"Which are the fairy tales of our world." Dayan realized.

"Exactly." CJ said. "If Wesen so will it, they can invoke a Woge so powerful that humans can actually see their Wesen form. But back to Grimms, Grimms are humans with the extraordinary ability to see a Wesen's true form, even beyond their human disguise. They took it upon themselves to police the Wesen population and protect humans from them."

"So... you think you and Shay saw this lizard guy because you're Grimms?" Stacey asked.

"Not exactly." CJ said. "I think that creatures from Hyrule... and possibly other Nintendo games, have come to life as a result of whatever gave us our powers. And I think that we, as Sages, have become Grimm-like, in the fact that we can see these creatures."

"So, we're a cross between a Grimm and a Conduit from inFamous?" Dayan asked.

"Basically." CJ said.

"So... are we going to do what the Grimms do?" Stacey asked.

"You mean hunt and kill monsters?" CJ asked. "If we need to."

"Now that I think about it… I was watching the news with Mom this morning and I saw something that could be related to all this." Stacey said. "There were several kids who went missing around town overnight."

CJ pulled out his laptop and opened to his preferred local news channel's website.

"Yeah, I'm seeing it on 7News's webpage right now." He said. "North Broadway, Hilldale Ave, Kenoza St, Kingsbury Ave… That's strange. The only ones even close to each other are North Broadway and Hilldale. Other than that, I don't see anything that could connect these together."

"What if it's not location in relation to each other, but something they all have in common?" Dayan asked.

"Like what?" CJ wondered. "Wait! All these streets run near heavily wooded areas."

"What would make kids all around the city all get lost in the woods on the same night?" Alex questioned.

"I think we may need to look into that and find out." CJ said. "We should split up and take a different area. Alex and Aubrey, you guys head out and look around off of Kingsbury. Dayan, D, Stacey and Janelle, since Hilldale and North Broadway run on opposite sides of the same wooded area, why don't you guys all split up and take that area together? Two of you go toward the Plaistow line, the other two focus more on the side nearer to Haverhill High and I-495. Shay, Jennette and I will take Kenoza St. Let's all meet back here around sunset and see what we can piece together."

"Got it." Alex said.

"Okay, let's do it." Dayan said.

"Sounds like a plan." Stacey said.

A short time later, CJ, Shaylene and Jennette were walking along the road nearest the woods, looking around for any clues that might help them find the missing kids.

"So, I thought you were leaving for school today, Jennette?" CJ asked.

"Change of plans. I'm going to stick around at least for the weekend." Jennette said.

"Guys..." Shaylene said.

"What's up?" CJ asked.

"You okay, sis?" Jennette questioned.

"Do you... hear that?" Shaylene asked. CJ and Jennette focused for a moment and listened to their surroundings.

"Kids laughing?" Jennette wondered. "Shouldn't they all be in school right now?"

"That could be our missing kids." Shaylene responded.

CJ checked the time on his cell phone.

"Yeah. I doubt the kids at the day care at the college would be out right now." CJ said. Suddenly, three small creatures jumped out of the woods. They were child-like in size, had a human-like figure, but appeared to be puppet-like wooden creatures. They were garbed in red cloaks, covering green straw clothing and wooden shoes.

"Skull Kids?" Shaylene asked, confused.

"The kids that disappeared." CJ said. "I'd bet money on it. Remember the legend of the Skull Kids in Ocarina of Time?"

"Whenever a child gets lost in the woods, they transform into a Skull Kid." Shaylene said.

"I always forget that you've actually played Ocarina of Time." Jennette said. "You were barely a year old when it came out." She chuckled. "The benefits of being best friends with a Zelda nerd, I guess."

"It still strikes me as weird that kids just disappeared in the woods." Shaylene said. "Do you think the others have found Skull Kids too?" It was then that CJ's phone rang.

"What's up?" CJ answered.

" _We found a group of Skull Kids out in the woods."_ Alex said from the other end.

"So did we." CJ said.

" _I wonder if Dayan and the others found Skull Kids up off of Hilldale and Broadway."_ Alex said.

"If we all found Skull Kids, I'd be willing to bet that they did too." CJ said. "Now... the question is what's leading these kids into the woods? And what magic force is at work that's turning these kids into Skull Kids?"

" _Where do you think we'll find that answer?"_ Alex asked.

"That's a good question." CJ said. "We also need to figure out if these Skull Kids are fully transformed or if they're just appearing that way to us. I'll call you when and if we find something."

" _Got it."_ Alex said, as CJ hung up.

"CJ..."

"What's up, Shay?" CJ asked.

"Do you hear that?" Shaylene questioned.

"Hear what?" Jennette questioned.

"That flute." Shaylene said.

"I don't hear a flute." CJ said.

"Me neither." Jennette said.

"It's... so soothing..." Shaylene said, as she began to walk toward the woods.

"Shay? Where are you going?" Jennette asked. As if unfazed by her sister's question, Shaylene kept walking toward the woods.

"Shay?" CJ asked. She kept walking. "Shay!"

"What the hell is going on?" Jennette questioned, as the pair continued to follow Shaylene as she trudged through the snow.

"I'm not sure..." CJ said. "Wait a minute!"

"What?"

"She said she heard a flute." CJ said.

"And... what does that have to do with why she seems to be in a trance?" Jennette asked.

"Jennette... Aren't you familiar with the tale of the Pied Piper?" CJ inquired.

"Are you telling me that my sister is under the influence of a Pied Piper?" Jennette responded.

"Basically." CJ said. "I'm beginning to think that there's more to that legend of the Skull Kids from Ocarina of Time. I think that yes, children that became lost in the woods transformed into Skull Kids. However, I believe that they were lured there. The most notable Skull Kid in Ocarina of Time played a flute. He was the same Skull Kid that we saw in Majora's Mask. The one who felt betrayed by his friends, the Four Giants. I believe he lured children into the woods in the desire for friends. His inability to find friends in the children he lured into the woods was what led him back to Termina and was what fed the evil within Majora's Mask."

"But he befriended the Giants once again... Why would he be here now luring children into the woods?" Jennette asked.

"Hard to say." CJ said, as they group continued to trek deeper into the snowy woods. "It seems that creatures from Hyrule... or possibly other worlds, have been drawn into our world. It's possible that Termina, and as a result the Four Giants, weren't pulled into our world. Maybe in the absence of the giants, the Skull Kid is reverting to his old ways, luring children into the woods in an attempt to make friends."

"And they're turning into Skull Kids..." Jennette said.

"Exactly." CJ said.

"No one turns my little sister into a Skull Kid!" Jennette exclaimed, as she gathered energy in her hands.

CJ quickly grabbed her by the upper arm.

"Jenn, stop." He said.

"Hell no!" Jennette said. "I'm not about to sit here and let my baby sister get lured away by some crazy marionette pied piper!"

"And you think I am?!" CJ snapped, trying to snap Jennette back to her senses. "We can't just run through the woods, powers blazing! Don't forget, most of these Skull Kids used to be children! Most of them younger than Shaylene! You run in there shooting magic all over the place, and you may save Shay, but you could end up killing a bunch of kids!" Jennette lowered her arms and the magic she was gathering vanished.

"I didn't even think of that." She said. "It's a good thing I have the Zelda fanfiction writer with me."

"Please." CJ snorted. "No it's not. From everything I can gather, my fanfictions are the reasons we're even in this mess."

"Maybe so." Jennette said, as the two continued to follow Shaylene deeper into the woods. "But even so, you never could've predicted that some freak explosion would've brought your stories to life."

"Yeah, I guess you're-" CJ stopped.

"What's wrong?" Jennette asked.

"Do... Do you hear that?" CJ asked. Jennette focused for a minute.

"No...?" Jennette said confused. "What am I supposed to be hearing?"

"A flute... It sounds like Saria's Song from Ocarina of Time." CJ said. He gasped. "Skull Kid! We're close!"

"But... how come you can hear it and I can't?" Jennette asked.

"That's a good question." CJ said. "And why am I not being affected by it?"

"That's a better question." Jennette said. As they continued to follow Shaylene, CJ noticed the song getting louder.

"Can you hear it yet?" CJ asked.

"No..." Jennette said. "Look! Over there!" CJ looked ahead and saw a group of Skull Kids dancing around a tree stump. Sitting atop the stump was another Skull Kid, playing a small white flute.

"There he is." CJ said. The two looked as Shaylene walked toward the group. As she neared, she began to glow green.

"She's transforming!" Jennette gasped. Without hesitation, CJ gathered energy into his hands and launched it at the Skull Kid on the stump, striking the flute out of his hands. Shaylene quickly snapped back to normal and turned around to see CJ and Jennette.

"What's...what's going on?" Shaylene asked. "Where am I?"

"That Skull Kid was the reason kids were disappearing." CJ said. Shaylene turned and saw the group of Skull Kids, all just staring at the three outsiders.

"Outsiders!" The lead Skull Kid cried out. He started jumping up and down, stomping the ground and grunting angrily. CJ gathered another energy blast and fired at the leading Skull Kid. As the blast struck him, the other Skull Kids briefly transformed into human children.

CJ pulled the girls aside. "Ok, I want you two to distract the Skull Kids. Knocking the flute out of his hands broke the spell on Shay. Striking him allowed us to briefly see the kids' true forms. If you can distract the lost kids, I can engage with the leader and hopefully free them."

"You got it." Jennette said.

"Go for it." Shaylene smiled. Shaylene then rushed to the left of the group, while Jennette rushed toward the right.

"Get them!" The leader called out. The group broke off into two forces, one going after Shaylene, the other going after Jennette.

"Remember! These are just kids!" CJ said. "Try to avoid attacking them if at all possible, but don't let yourselves get overwhelmed!"

"Come get me!" Shaylene called out, as the Skull Kids rushed toward her. She leaped back, dodging the occasional tackle from the Skull Kids, causing them to fall face first into the snow.

"That's the way, sis!" Jennette exclaimed, as the second group charged her. As she jumped back, she fired blasts of magic at the ground every so often, causing small explosion which startled the Skull Kids, causing a few of them to stumble and trip onto the powdery wintry ground.

CJ began to charge an energy blast as he rushed toward the leader of the group.

"Let these kids go!" He exclaimed, as he launched a blast of shadow magic at the Skull Kid. An explosion rocked the stump he was standing on, sending him flying into a tree. CJ walked over to the Skull Kid and stood towering over him, hands glowing with shadow energy.

Skull Kid lay there, groaning in pain.

"Here are your options." CJ said. "You can release these kids home to their parents, or you can try to fight, and die."

"I just... wanted friends..." The Skull Kid groaned, as he snapped his fingers. CJ and the girls watched as the other Skull Kids transformed into human children.

"Get out of here." CJ said. "Now. Before I change my mind and end your life. And if you catch you pulling this kind of stunt again, I won't hesitate to kill you."

A short while later, CJ, Jennette and Shaylene were standing in the parking lot of the Technology Center at CJ's school, along with several police cruisers and officers, as well as the missing kids.

"Twice in a couple of days." One of the officers said to CJ. "Any chance we'll see you pursuing a career in law enforcement?"

"My love lies with the weather." CJ said. "I'm just doing my part for the community."

"This is more than doing your part for the community." The officer said. "You're practically doing our work."

"I believe a good citizen helps out in whatever way he or she can." CJ said. "You guys can only do so much to track down missing kids. Just wish I could've caught the guy who took them."

"It's probably for the best that you didn't find him. We'll track him down."

It wasn't long before the officers left, transporting the missing kids home.

"Our work is done." Shaylene said.

"For now." CJ said. "Let's head home."


	7. The Light Eater

**CHAPTER SIX: The Light Eater**

The following Friday morning, CJ was standing along the side of a small road at a crosswalk on the local community college campus. He wore black pants, a black heavy jacket, a black stocking cap, and a fluorescent yellow vest with the words "Public Safety" written on it. He was directing traffic, and frequently stopping cars to help students and faculty safely cross the street. Not long after his shift started, a car pulled into the lot behind him and Jennette stepped out.

"Hey Jennette." CJ said. "What brings you here?"

"My sister." Jennette said.

"Is she ok?" CJ asked.

"She's been coming home from school extra tired these past couple of days." Jennette said. "I'm worried about her. I was wondering if maybe there was any way you could possibly check on her."

"You're in luck." CJ said. "I can manifest a... kind of projection of myself using my magic, which I can use to scout things. Like for example, I can use it to check on her in school."

"Awesome." Jennette said. "Please do that. With all this weird stuff that's been going on, I'm worried that something... or someone may be hurting her."

"Not a problem." CJ said. He focused his energy for a moment, and gave off a faint purple glow, unnoticed by everyone around him except Jennette. "I'm in. I'm trying to focus in on her magic energy."

"She was grumbling about having to sit through English class first when she left for the bus this morning." Jennette remarked.

"Let's see... so, that would be English III class... How well do you know her schedule?" CJ questioned. "Do you know her teacher? What room she's in? What wing?"

"Um... F-12, I think." Jennette answered.

"Hm... Okay, I'll see if I can focus in on her energy signature and track her that way." CJ stated. He focused for a moment, as visions of the local high school's hallway flooded his mind. He traveled the halls via his magic projection, scanning for Shaylene. He turned down a hallway, passed a pair of bathrooms and stopped as he came to a classroom.

"Anything? Where is she? Is she okay?" Jennette trembled.

"I've got her. You were right." CJ stated, trying to calm her. "She's in F-12."

"How is she?" Jennette questioned.

"She seems..." He stopped.

"CJ? What's wrong? What's going on with my sister?" Jennette gulped.

"I'm not sure." CJ said. "But she looks visibly sick. I don't know how her teacher doesn't see it." He focused for a moment, clutching his Triforce Amulet. "Something's draining her magic." He moved his Shadow Scout closer to her, invisible to everyone else in the class. As he neared her, he visibly flinched.

"Shit! CJ, are you okay?" Jennette quaked.

"I can feel it." CJ explained. "Whatever's... draining her... It's... It's hitting me too." He paused between words, struggling with his energy. "I'm going to... try to connect with her telepathically." He focused for a brief moment, concentrating his energy.

Meanwhile, Shaylene sat in her English class, struggling with the energy loss. She gasped when she heard CJ's voice in her mind.

 _Shay, can you hear me?_ CJ's voice echoed.

" _CJ?"_ Shaylene wondered.

 _Listen, I've established a telepathic communication with you using my magic._ CJ explained.

" _I don't feel good..."_ Shaylene groaned.

 _I know._ CJ said. _Something, or someone, is draining your energy. I need you to ask to go to the nurse. Tell the teacher you're sick. After that, head to the nearest bathroom._

" _Why? What's going on?"_ Shaylene questioned.

 _I'm going to try to use my magic to teleport you out of school._ CJ responded. _There's a good chance that whatever's draining your magic will follow you once I teleport you out. It's focused in on you specifically. I used a magic projection of myself, a Shadow Scout, to protect you so I could communicate with you. Even now, as I'm shielding you, I can feel it prying its way into my energy, draining me._

" _Where... where are you going to teleport me to?"_ Shaylene inquired.

 _I'm working right now, so I'm going to bring you here with me. Your sister's here as well._ CJ replied.

Shaylene raised her hand to get the teacher's attention.

"Yes Miss Johnson?" The teacher asked.

"I'm not feeling well." Shaylene stated. "May I be excused to the nurse's office?"

"Of course." The teacher replied. Shaylene packed up her belongings, grabbed her backpack, walked out of the class and into the nearest girls' bathroom, still maintaining her telepathic connection with CJ.

" _I'm in the girls' room... In one of the stalls."_ Shaylene stated.

 _Good._ CJ responded. _I'm teleporting you to me now._

Within moments, Shaylene's body surged with energy and everything around her was enveloped in a purple haze. Moments later, she found herself in a different bathroom than she was in before.

" _I'm in a different bathroom."_ Shaylene remarked.

 _Yeah, I know. I've teleported you into one of the girls' bathrooms at my work. Just head outside to the nearest parking lot. Your sister and I are both there._ CJ informed her. Shaylene walked out of the bathroom and found herself in a small lobby-like area with walls made of red brick. The wall to her left was replace with large windows and two doors, as was the wall behind her and a bit to the left, making a "L" shape wit the other set of windows. She walked out the doors to her left, down a walkway, up some stairs and across a small street into the parking lot, where CJ and Jennette were both standing. At the corner of the parking lot and the small street was a small wooden saw horse with a sign nailed to it that read "One Way: Do Not Enter". Sticking out of the ground on the side of the road was a large yellow tower-like sign about 7 feet tall. Built into the top of it was a blue shield bearing another "One Way" sign.

"Are you okay?" Jennette questioned.

"I'm fine." Shaylene responded. "At least, I feel okay now."

"Good." Jennette sighed.

"What are we gonna say when Mom and Dad find out I left school early?" Shaylene wondered.

"They're both at work until 5." Jennette stated. "They don't need to know."

"Yeah, but what if they find out?" Shaylene inquired.

"I'll come up with something." Jennette responded. "Don't worry about it."

"Ok. So... what now?" Shaylene wondered.

"You'll stay here with me for the day." CJ replied. "Like I said, since whatever was draining you seems to be targeting you specifically, there's a decent chance it will follow you. If you're with me, I can protect you." He looked at Jennette. "No offense, Jennette. I'm not saying that you can't protect her-"

Jennette chimed in, interrupting him. "But these powers are based on your stories. You instinctively have a better handle on them than the rest of us."

"Ok." Shaylene said.

 _ **Later that day…**_

CJ's car pulled into his driveway. He and Shaylene stepped out.

"I thought you said whatever was after me would follow me?" Shaylene questioned.

"Are you complaining?" CJ replied.

"No…" Shaylene responded.

"If it's one of your classmates, or at least someone at your school, they wouldn't have been able to just slip out unnoticed." CJ stated.

"No, but they could have faked being sick." Shaylene responded.

"That's true." CJ said. "But depending on what kind of a student… or teacher they are, they may not have felt right skipping out on any kind of work."

"A student who doesn't want to miss schoolwork but is okay with draining the energy of someone?" Shaylene questioned. "Think about what you just said."

"Just because someone or something is draining your energy, it doesn't mean they're doing it on purpose." CJ stated. "They could be someone just like us. They woke up one morning with abilities they can't explain, and they're have difficulties controlling their newfound abilities."

"I guess." Shaylene acknowledged. "Would it be an issue if I spent the weekend?"

"The **whole** weekend?" CJ inquired. "Including Sunday night into MLK Day?"

"Yeah...?" Shaylene responded, somewhat confused.

"Why?" CJ questioned.

"Because…" Shaylene stammered.

"Because why?" CJ asked.

"Because I'm…" Shaylene mumbled.

"Come on, kiddo. Spit it out." CJ insisted.

"I'm scared…" Shaylene quaked.

"You don't have anything to worry about." CJ reassured her. "But if it makes you feel better, **and** your parents are okay with it, you can spend the weekend."

"Yay!" Shaylene cheered. "Thank you!" She then pulled out her cell phone and called her mother. "Hi Mommy, could I possibly spend the weekend at CJ's?" 

" _Let me speak to him, sweetie."_ Brenda responded from the other end.

"Mom wants to talk to you." Shaylene stated.

"Good afternoon, Mrs Johnson." CJ greeted.

" _Hi CJ. Did Shaylene invite herself over for the weekend?"_

"No, I invited her." CJ remarked, quickly catching what Shaylene's mom was asking.

" _Very well. Let me talk to her, please."_ CJ handed the phone back to Shaylene.

"Hi Mommy." Shaylene chirped.

" _You can spend the weekend. But next time, don't invite yourself over. It's rude."_ Brenda stated.

"Sorry Mom..." Shaylene apologized, before her mom hung up.

"She still caught you, huh?" CJ chuckled.

"Yeah..." Shaylene trailed off. "But she said it was okay if I spend the weekend."

"Want to head back to your house and grab some stuff then?" CJ questioned.

"Sure." Shaylene replied.

A short time later, CJ and Shaylene walked back into his house. She had her backpack slung over her shoulder and was also carrying a small luggage case. They walked into CJ's room and she tossed the stuff on his mattress.

"So... Where am I sleeping?" Shaylene inquired.

"Not in my bed." CJ responded somewhat sternly. "You can lay your sleeping bag wherever you feel like."

"Okay." Shaylene chimed. She rolled out her sleeping bag, letting it fall just next to CJ's mattress.

"Somehow, I should have known you were going to do that." CJ sighed.

Shaylene frowned. "I want to feel safe." CJ couldn't help but chuckle.

"I told you: You don't have anything to worry about." He stated. "Feel like walking down to CVS with me?"

"Walk?" Shaylene questioned. "We aren't gonna take the car?"

"It's like 2 minutes down the road." CJ replied. "I'm not gonna use gas for **that** short of a trip."

"Okay." Shaylene said.

About 15 minutes later, they were walking back from the store with bags in hand. A short while into the trip, CJ turned and saw that Shaylene was walking sluggishly.

"Are you okay?" CJ asked.

"N-no..." Shaylene struggled. "It... It feels like something is... draining me again. Like today in... in school."

"Shit." CJ said. "One sec." He snapped his fingers and the two briefly glowed purple, unnoticed by anyone who may have been in the area.

"I feel better... What did you do?" Shaylene questioned.

"I created an energy field around us." CJ stated. "One that will slow down the effects of whatever's draining you."

"You can do that?" Shaylene questioned.

"Yeah." CJ replied. "I also shielded us from anyone who can sense magic, so if they were sensing our magic energy and using that to track us, they can't."

"That's cool." Shaylene chirped. They kept walking and as they walked into the driveway, Shaylene felt the shadow energy vanish. "Why did you remove the shield?"

"When I was writing my stories, I devised an idea for a magical cloak of sorts. One that could shield an entire house." CJ explained. "I guess when our powers became real, so did that cloak."

"Wow. That's awesome." Shaylene said, as the two walked into the house and back into CJ's room.

"No kidding. Though I can't say I ever thought it would become real."

"Hey you want to have a quick game of Yu-Gi-Oh?" CJ asked.

"Sure." Shaylene responded. "Fake decks?"

"Are you asking because you want to or don't want to?" CJ questioned.

"I wanna use fakes." Shaylene replied.

"Cool. Let's do this." CJ said, grabbing his deck.

"I'll start us off." Shaylene said, drawing 6 cards from her deck. "I play the Silent Realm Field Spell and summon Silent Realm – Flying Guardian." She laid a green card and an orange card on the bed in front of her. "And I'll throw a card face down. Your move."

"I'll place a monster in defense mode and throw a card face down." CJ said, laying two cards facedown in front of him. One he laid horizontally, and the other was vertical, parallel to his deck. "You're up."

Shaylene placed another orange card on the bed in front of her. "I summon Silent Realm – Mace Guardian. And thanks to my Field Spell, as you know, all my Light monsters gain 500 attack points, so my Flying Guardian has 2100 attack points and my Mace Guardian has 2300 attack points. So, I'll use my Flying Guardian to attack your face down."

"I'll activate my face down trap: Battle of the Stealthy." CJ smiled.

"Crap... That's the one that negates my attack and lets you summon a monster, isn't it?"

"It is." CJ said with a smirk. "And I'll use it to summon my Sheikah Whip Master."

"Fine." Shaylene said. "I'll use my Mace Guardian to attack your Whip Master. And with 1700 attack points, you'll take 600 points of damage."

"Fine. So I have 7400 Life Points." CJ stated.

"Yup." Shaylene smiled. "Your move."

"I'll Flip Summon my Sheikah Spy." CJ stated, flipping his face down card face up, laying it vertically on the board, revealing an orange card. "And thanks to its effect, I can destroy a spell or trap card on the field, and I'll choose your Silent Realm."

"Damn." Shaylene swore, placing the green card into a pile above her deck. "Which means my monsters lose their effects."

"Yup. No destroying my monsters without battle calculation for you." CJ smirked. "Next, I summon Sheikah Whip Master. And I'll overlay my two monsters..." CJ then laid two orange cards on top of each other and placed a black card on top of them. "...to Xyz Summon Sheikah Guardian of Time's Gate."

"Yeah, no." Shaylene said. "I activate Torrential Tribute."

"Which means every monster on the field is destroyed. " CJ stated. "Good move. Your turn."

"I summon Guardian Dragon Eldin." Shaylene stated, laying another orange card on the bed. "And I'll attack you directly for 2000."

"So... I'm down to 5400." CJ stated.

"Yup. Your move."

CJ placed a card face-down horizontally. "I'll lay a monster in defense mode. Go."

"I summon Guardian Dragon Lanayru." Shaylene stated, placing an orange card down on the field. "Eldin will attack your face down." 

CJ smirked as his flipped his card face up, showed it to Shaylene and placed it into his discard pile, known as the Graveyard.

"You destroyed my Sheikah Spy." He stated. "So, thanks to its Flip Effect, I could destroy one Spell or Trap Card on the field, but you don't have any. However, since Sheikah Spy was destroyed in battle, the monster that destroyed it is also destroyed."

"Well that sucks." Shaylene stated, placing her Eldin in the Graveyard. "But my Lanayru can still attack you directly for 1900."

"Bringing me down to 3500." CJ said.

"Go." Shaylene directed.

"I summon Sheikah Soldier." CJ stated. "And I'll attack Lanayru with 1900, causing them both to be destroyed. And then I'll lay a card face down. Go."

"I summon Guardian Dragon Faron." Shaylene stated. "And then I'll attack your Life Points directly for 1800."

"I'll activate my face down card: We Are the Sheikah." CJ stated, flipping up a pink card. "Now, I can Special Summon a Sheikah from my graveyard, but its effects are negated. And I'll choose my 2500 attack point Sheikah Guardian of Time's Gate."

"Crap..." Shaylene said. "I end my turn."

"I equip my Guardian with Sheikah Studies, boosting his attack points by 500." CJ stated. "And I'll send it to attack Faron."

"So, I'll take 1200 points of damage, putting me at... 6800." Shaylene stated.

"Go." CJ said.

"I throw a monster in defense mode." Shaylene stated. "Go."

"I activate the Field Spell, Shadow Temple." CJ stated. "And thanks to this, all my Sheikah monsters gain 500 attack and defense. Now, I'll send my Sheikah Guardian to attack your defense, with 3500 attack points."

"Sorry dude, but you attacked my Marshmallon." Shaylene smiled, flipping up an orange card.

"Which means I lose 1000 Life Points, putting me at 2500." CJ stated. "And Marshmallon can't be destroyed in battle. Your move."

"I play Terraforming to add Silent Realm to my hand, which I'll activate, destroying your Shadow Temple." Shaylene stated. "Next, I'll summon Silent Realm – Flying Guardian, and I'll attack your Sheikah Guardian."

"And thanks to Silent Realm and your Guardian, my monster with be destroyed without damage calculation." CJ said.

"Yup. Your move." Shaylene smiled.

"I'll lay a card face down." CJ stated. "Go."

"I summon Silent Realm – Sky Watcher." Shaylene said. "And I'll send Flying Guardian and Sky Watcher to attack you directly for 3500."

"That's game." CJ said, scooping up his cards. "Good game."

The following afternoon, CJ and Shaylene were walking out of one of the buildings at his work. He was wearing a snow camouflage jacket over his uniform shirt.

"I guess whoever's after me isn't going to follow me..." Shaylene stated. "I haven't felt anything draining me since yesterday in school."

"Maybe you're right." CJ said. "But it's too soon to celebrate. Let's at least give it until Tuesday after you've gone back to school."

 _ **The following Monday evening...**_

Shaylene was sitting with CJ in his room, talking on the phone.

"Hi Mommy. Do you want me to come home tonight?" Shaylene questioned.

" _Yes sweetie."_ Brenda replied from the other line. _"I'm sure CJ would be fine driving you to school in the morning, but I would prefer you come home."_

"Ok. I'll be home in a bit." Shaylene stated. "Love you Mom."

 _"Love you too, sweetie."_ Brenda replied. _"See you in a bit."_ Shaylene then hung up.

"Do I have to go to school tomorrow?" Shaylene questioned.

"Do your parents know about your powers?" CJ responded.

"No..." Shaylene answered.

"Then yes, you have to go to school tomorrow." CJ replied. "Besides, if whatever or whoever is draining your power is a classmate, then an easy way to find out if they're still around is for you to be in school."

"Easy for you, maybe." Shaylene whined.

"I know you're scared, but if we want to figure out who's doing this, we're going to have an easier time with it if you do things as normal." CJ stated. "If they're targeting you on purpose, then changing your routine is going to throw them off, and lead to them potentially escaping."

"I guess..." Shaylene sighed.

CJ checked his cell phone. "Come on, it's getting kinda late. Let's get you home."

"It's not _that_ late." Shaylene stated. "Can I stay for a little while longer? We could have a duel... or a Pokemon battle... or something."

"Ok fine." CJ gave in. "But only for another hour."

"Yay!" Shaylene cheered. "Wanna duel? Real decks this time."

CJ chuckled. "Okay, let's do it."

 _ **A short time later...**_

"All right, try this on. By banishing Agent of Mystery – Earth from my graveyard, I can Special Summon Master Hyperion." Shaylene stated. "And," she pointed to a green card off to the side of her other cards. "Since I have Sanctuary in the Sky on the field, he can activate his effect twice. By banishing a Light attribute Fairy type monster from my graveyard, I can destroy a card on the field. So, I'll banish both of my Mystical Shine Balls using Hyperion's effect to destroy your Azure Eyes Silver Dragon and your face down spell or trap card." Shaylene pointed to a white card and a face down card on CJ's field.

"Kunai with Chain." CJ stated, placing a pink card into his discard pile.

"And, since your field is now empty of monsters, I can attack your life points directly with Master Hyperion." Shaylene smiled.

"And with 2700 attack points, that's more than enough to wipe out my 2300 life points." CJ stated. "Good game, Shay."

"Thanks." Shaylene replied.

"Come on, get your stuff together. I have to take you home." CJ remarked.

"Okay..." Shaylene groaned.

 _ **The next day...**_

CJ waited on a street corner outside a brick nursing home on a busy main road. He watched as a school bus pulled up and the doors opened. One by one the students stepped off. Shaylene stepped off the bus and smiled when she saw CJ.

"Hey! What are you doing here?" She questioned, running over and hugging him. A familiar brunette girl shot her and CJ a dirty glare.

"I wanted to check up on you." CJ stated, as the two started walking down the street, heading toward Shaylene's house. He kept somewhat silent until they were far enough away from her classmates. "Any more sign of whatever was draining you the other day?"

"No." Shaylene stated. "Nothing. Things were fine today."

"Hm... It's possible then that whoever was draining you either doesn't have control over their powers, or they needed light energy, and you just happened to be the strongest source in the area." CJ explained.

"That doesn't exactly fill me with glee, dude." Shaylene said.

"I know." CJ responded. "But, I don't think they were intentionally targeting you specifically. I mean... yeah, they might have been targeting you as the strongest source of light energy, but not you as you. Know what I mean?"

"Uhh... no." Shaylene stated, confusion present in her voice.

"If someone else had been a stronger source of light energy, they would have gone after that person instead of you." CJ stated.

"Ah, okay. I guess that makes some kind of sense." Shaylene responded. She stopped as they reached her house and she saw CJ's car parked in the driveway. "Pleeease tell me you're staying for a bit."

CJ chuckled. "Of course I am."

"Yay!"Shaylene cheered.


	8. Fear

**CHAPTER SEVEN: Fear**

About a month and half had passed since the events with the Light Eater. Alex, Jennette and Aubrey had gone out of town for school, while the rest of the gang had gone about their usual lives. Shortly after Jennette left for college, her and Shaylene's parents finalized the deal on their new place and began the process of moving. By early the following month, they were settled in to their new place.

A school bus stopped at the street corner not far from CJ's house. The doors swung open and one by one, students started filing out. At the back of the pack was Shaylene, dressed in a heavy pink jacket and jeans, with her pink backpack slung over her shoulder. She started walking down the street toward CJ's place. She walked in the front door and entered the small hallway. In front of her was the familiar, old-looking wooden door that led to CJ's house. She reached into her pocket, turned to the left, and pulled out a small key. She slid the key into the lock of the new looking white door, turned the lock, opened the door, and started heading up the stairs on the opposite side. She smiled as she reached the top of the stairs and swung open the plain wooden door at the top, which led her into a medium sized kitchen, where her mom was washing dishes.

"Hi sweetie." Brenda greeted. "How was school?"

"It was good." Shaylene said, as she slipped off her winter boots, hung her jacket on the coat rack next to the door, and dropped her backpack on one of the kitchen chairs. "Can I go downstairs to CJ's place and hang out with him for the afternoon?"

"Of course, dear." Brenda responded. "Just take your homework with you, please. I'm sure CJ would be glad to help out."

"Thanks, Mom." Shaylene chirped. She slipped on a pair of white sneakers that were sitting next to the door, grabbed her backpack, and bounded back down the stairs, where she happily knocked on CJ's door. Within moments, he came walking over and opened the door, barefoot and wearing jeans and a green t-shirt with his favorite starter Pokemon from Pokemon X & Y, Chespin, as well as the phrase "#TeamChespin" written underneath.

"What's up?" CJ questioned.

"Came down to hang." Shaylene responded. "You aren't busy, are you?"

"No, not at all." CJ replied. "Come on in." Shaylene stepped inside and CJ closed the door behind her. The two walked through the hallway and into his room, where CJ flopped down onto his bed.

"So what were you up to?" Shaylene questioned.

"Nothing too exciting." CJ answered. "How was school?"

"Not too bad." Shaylene replied.

"Any issues?" CJ asked.

"Nope." Shaylene stated.

"You bumped into Meghan at all lately?" CJ inquired.

"No, thank God." Shaylene sighed. "The last thing I want is crap from her. About ANYTHING."

"Seen any weird things around school?" CJ questioned.

"You mean like powers weird? Or just regular weird?" Shaylene asked. "Because I've seen a LOT of regular weird stuff."

"No, I mean like powers weird." CJ responded, chuckling a bit. "Though I'm sure the regular weird stuff is probably interesting."

"And a bit gross. Some of it anyway." Shaylene said.

"Students still getting intimate in the A Wing?" CJ questioned.

"Yup." Shaylene cringed. "That's still a thing. You wouldn't believe the stories I've heard about the auditorium... Well, actually you probably would."

CJ laughed. "Yup. Heard those 'legends' while I was going to school there too. Even knew a couple of the people who they claimed... made use of the area, I guess."

"Ew." Shaylene responded. "Please tell me you weren't one of them."

"There were rumors, but none of them were actually true." CJ said.

"Did you ever see the kid who danced outside the cafeteria for money?" Shaylene inquired.

"Oh my God, that story's still going around?" CJ laughed.

"So you did see him? Her?" Shaylene asked.

"I _was_ him!" CJ explained, struggling to control his laughter.

Shaylene burst out laughing. "Oh my God, what?! Are you serious?"

"I don't even remember what started it, but one day I was just kinda hanging around outside in that little outdoor area between the library and the M Wing, and I just started doing that whole 'Don't Hit Me' bit from that one episode of Hey Arnold, and people just started throwing quarters at me." CJ chuckled. "I knew they were probably trying to hit me, but I didn't care. I'd save the quarters and buy cookies or a second lunch."

"How long did you do it for?" Shaylene questioned.

"I think I got either halfway through Freshman or Sophomore Year." CJ replied. "I can't remember for sure. I can't believe there's anyone there who still knows about that."

"I guess legends get passed down." Shaylene giggled. "By the way, any more word on Stacey's tumor?"

"No." CJ stated. "She has an appointment tomorrow to find out."

"Tell her I said good luck." Shaylene smiled.

"I will." CJ responded. "I'm sure she'll be happy to hear that."

"If I run upstairs and grab a Gamecube controller, you wanna play Mario Party or Smash Bros?" Shaylene asked.

"Sure." CJ replied. "Sounds like fun." Shaylene ran out of CJ's room, out the front door and upstairs to her condo. Within a few minutes, she returned, Nintendo Gamecube controller in her hand.

"Got it." Shaylene smiled.

"So, what do you want to play?" CJ questioned. "Do you want to fight or destroy our friendship?" He chuckled as he said the second part.

"Aren't they the same?" Shaylene asked.

CJ laughed. "I guess so."

 _ **A few hours later...**_

CJ leaned forward and pressed the Power button on his Nintendo Wii.

"Aw man, I was having fun..." Shaylene whined.

"I know, Shay. But it's getting late." CJ replied. "You should head home."

Shaylene sighed. "Fine." She stood up, hesitantly slung her backpack over her shoulder, and started walking out. CJ quickly followed suit, walking her to the front door. She turned and looked at him, arms drooping at her side.

"Hey. Don't be so mopey." CJ barked. "You live _upstairs_. It's not like we never get to hang."

"Yeah... I know." Shaylene responded.

"What did I just say?" CJ questioned.

"Sorry." Shaylene replied. "I'll catch ya later." She then opened her front door and headed home. CJ closed his front door and walked back into his room, before flopping down on his bed. As he walked into his room, he heard his phone go off, playing the "secret discovery" sound from the Legend of Zelda. He picked up his phone and checked it, noticing a text message from Stacey.

" _Hi hun. Are you still coming with me to the doctor tomorrow?"_ The text read.

 _"Of course hun."_ CJ responded.

" _Yay! Mommy said you can sleepover if you want."_ Stacey replied.

" _Would it be easier if I did?"_ CJ asked.

" _Yes."_ Stacey responded.

" _Okay. Let me know when you're on the way."_ CJ repied.

 _ **The next day...**_

A silver SUV pulled up at the end of CJ's driveway. He hopped out of the passenger seat and walked around to the driver's side.

"Thanks for coming with me." Stacey said from the driver's seat, as she rolled down the window.

"Of course hun." CJ responded. "I'm glad you're cancer free."

"Me too. Such a relief." Stacey stated. CJ leaned in the window and kissed her.

"Drive safe hun." CJ said.

"I will." Stacey responded. "One more?" CJ smiled before kissing Stacey again. "I'll text you when I get home."

"Thanks." CJ said. He walked up his driveway and through the back door of his house. As he neared his room, he heard a knock on the front door. He walked over, opened the door and was greeted by Shaylene.

"Hey you." CJ greeted.

"Hi!" Shaylene chirped.

"What brings you here so late?" CJ asked. "It's almost 10:00 PM."

"How's Stacey?" Shaylene inquired.

"Cancer free." CJ responded with a smile. "She went her for an appointment today and they told her that the potential cancer was completely removed during the endoscopy."

"That's awesome." Shaylene smiled. "I'm glad she's okay."

"Me too." CJ responded. "And I know she's relieved."

"Would it be too much trouble to ask for a hand with some homework?" Shaylene questioned.

"Depends on the subject." CJ responded. "If it's something I feel decently confident with helping with, then no, it's not too much trouble."

"It's meteorology." Shaylene stated.

"Miss Meteorology needs help from Mr Meteorology?" CJ asked, chuckling.

"Not completely…" Shaylene responded. "I just… would feel more confident about my work if you're helping me."

CJ smiled. "Of course I'll help. So what are we working on?"

"Project." Shaylene responded. "I need to collect weather data over a period of ten days and make a 2-day forecast each day."

"I remember that project." CJ stated. "Mr. Moll still teaching the class?"

"Yeah." Shaylene responded. "He's tough."

"Really?" CJ questioned, a bit puzzled. "He was decently laid back when I took his class."

"Yeah, not anymore." Shaylene stated. "I'm guessing he's had to buckle down and become a lot stricter."

"Damn that sucks." CJ said. "Okay, so when's the project due?"

"I still have like 3 weeks to do it." Shaylene stated.

"Okay." CJ responded. "So we can work on it over the next ten days together. But I would like you to do the majority of the work. It is _your_ project after all."

"Yeah, but you've been doing amateur weather stuff for longer." Shaylene replied. " **And** you took a college level meteorology course."

"Doesn't mean I'm any better at it than you." CJ stated. "And besides, I bet you're great at predicting the weather. Now, come on. Let's pull up some maps so you can get started and try to predict the weather over the next couple of days." He pulled out his laptop and pulled up a couple of weather maps online. "Okay, so take a look and see what you think."

Shaylene scanned the maps. "Hm… so we just had a storm system move through, and it's just offshore now… It was led by a cold front, so I think it's gonna be mostly sunny over the next two days at least. With… temps in the upper 30s to low 40s both days."

"See?" CJ smiled. "And you doubted yourself. I wouldn't have said anything different. Now, will you have to write down tomorrow and Thursday's actual weather and compare it to your predictions?"

"Yup." Shaylene replied.

"Okay." CJ said. "You know where to find the info. You should head back up to your place. You have school in the morning."

"All right." Shaylene said. She packed her things into her backpack, stood up and walked toward the door out of CJ's room. He got up and followed her to the front door.

"You're gonna ace this project." CJ stated. "I know it."

Shaylene smiled. "Thanks. I'll see you later. Good night."

"Night, kiddo." CJ said, as Shaylene opened her front door and headed upstairs. CJ closed and locked his front door, and walked back into his room, where he plopped down on the bed and soon began typing away on his laptop.

" _There's… some kind of inscription on the Wii remote." CJ said. He then began to read it. "He who wields this magical crystal Wii-mote shall have that which he desires granted unto him…"_

 _"Wait… What?" Stacey questioned._

" _I think we're in Hyrule Castle…" CJ said. "I think this Wii remote brought my stories… or maybe even my dream… to reality…" He then looked at his hand and noticed the triangular mark, which was now glowing brighter than when he was at home playing Skyward Sword. "Look…" He held up his hand._

" _Is that… the Triforce?" Stacey asked._

 _"The Triforce of Power." CJ said. "The same piece of the Triforce I had in both my stories and my dream. Check your hand too, hun." Stacey looked at her hand and saw the Triforce as well, but the lower left piece was brighter than the others._

 _"Which one is this?" She asked._

 _"The Triforce of Courage." CJ said. "We should get in touch with the others." His cell phone then began to vibrate again. "Oh! That's right! Someone was trying to get in touch with me!" He pulled out his phone and looked the caller ID. "Shaylene? What's up?"_

" _You're probably not going to believe this but… my family and I are somehow in Ordon Village! In Hyrule! Like from Twilight Princess!" Shaylene said from the other line._

He kept writing for another hour or so, occasionally stopping to check Facebook or Twitter, while using his Wii U to watch YouTube videos.

He looked down at the screen, reading the last bit of the story he had written.

 _CJ reached into his pocket and pulled out his deck. "My Sheikah cards… Just as I expected. And there's my Sage Card: CJ, Sage of Shadow… It looks like when my stories became reality, our roles in Hyrule became reality as well."_

" _Roles in Hyrule?" Stacey said._

 _"What do you mean?" Shaylene asked._

" _All those cards represent who you are in Hyrule." CJ said. "Shaylene, you're the Sage of Light… Jennette, you're the Sage of Spirit… Aubrey, you're the Sage of Wind… Alex is the Sage of Earth… Dayan is Sage of Ice… Danielle is Sage of the Forest… Janelle is Sage of Fire… Layla is the Sage of Time, and bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom… Stacey, you're the Sage of Water and bearer of the Triforce of Courage… And I'm the Sage of Shadow and the bearer of the Triforce of Power…"_

" _So… We are the Sages of Hyrule?" Layla asked._

 _"It looks like it…" CJ said. "And if my stories and dream are a reality, then there's one other key thing that's changed…" He looked at his hand again and looked up. "Stacey… You're a Queen…"_

" _Wait… I'm a what?" Stacey asked._

 _"In my dream… You weren't just the Sage of Water and the bearer of the Triforce of Courage…" CJ said, holding up his hand. Stacey gasped at the gold band around his finger, that neither she nor him had noticed. She then looked at her hand and saw a golden ring with a jewel on top of it made of three gold crescent shapes sitting curve-to-curve and each holding a small sapphire. The symbol itself was known in Hyrule as Zora's Sapphire. "You're also my wife and the Queen of Hyrule…"_

" _Wait… We were married in your dream?" Stacey asked._

" _Not just were." CJ said. "If that dream is now a reality… I guess we are…" He then walked over to Stacey, got down on one knee and smiled. "Stacey, will you accept this weird new reality and be my wife?"_

 _Stacey couldn't help but shed a tear. "Yes… Yes I will…"_

" _So here I am… One day, I'm just a normal college student who gets knocked into a coma and has a dream about being the King of Hyrule… And then I get a magic video game controller that makes that dream a reality… Hard to believe, I know… This is gonna take a while to get used to… I wonder what adventures lie in wait for me… And what other things from my dream are now a reality…?_

"Awesome." CJ smiled. "'The Man with the Crystal Wii Remote' is done. Now, time for bed."

A few days later, CJ pulled his car into his driveway and climbed out, where he was surprisingly greeted by Jennette.

"What are you doing here?" He asked. "Shouldn't you be at UMass?"

"Mom called me this morning, said Shay never made it to school." Jennette said.

"What?!" CJ gasped.

"Mom got a call on her cell this morning letting her know about an absence that Shay received today." Jennette replied.

"Is it possible that her homeroom teacher made a mistake and marked her absent?" CJ questioned.

"Not unless all her teachers made the same mistake." Jennette responded. "Besides, I stopped by the high school as they were getting out and talked to a few of her friends. None of them saw her. I even asked Meghan Cruz, not that she really cared to help."

"Shit… Where have you looked for her?" CJ asked.

"I've been driving around for the past 45 minutes, mostly within a close radius to the house." Jennette said. "I checked the library, I checked the park up the street, I checked Plug Pond. I even checked near where we used to live on Main Street. I was hoping that you could use your powers or something to find her."

"I might be able to use my powers to sense her energy, but I can't promise anything." CJ stated. "You keep searching this area, and head toward Downtown too. I'll head towards NECC and search that area."

"Okay." CJ got into his car and drove off, as Jennette hopped into her car and drove off in the opposite direction.

A few minutes later, CJ was driving past his school, focusing his energy, when he sensed something nearby. He quickly pulled into the closest parking lot, parked his car and hopped out.

 _It… feels like light energy…_ He thought. _It could be her._ He focused for a moment, trying to locate the source of the energy. _I think it's coming from the woods around Kenoza._ He quickly dashed across the street and into the woods. Most of the snow had been melting over the past week, so although some of the trails and paths were visible, much of the bare ground was muddy. He ran through the woods, continuing to focus on the energy source he was sensing. He slowed down as he got closer and closer. He ducked behind trees and crept forward, keeping alert for anyone other than Shaylene. As he scanned his surroundings, he noticed a familiar pink backpack on the ground nearby, covered in mud. One of the shoulder straps was torn as well.

"Shit…" CJ's voice trembled. "Shaylene? Shay!" He began running down the muddy trails, splashing mud and water all over his jeans, grabbing the backpack in the process.

"CJ?" A familiar voice quaked. CJ soon came to a small lakeside clearing, where Shaylene was sitting alone on a rock.

"Shay!" CJ exclaimed. "Oh thank God, you're okay!" He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a tight embrace.

"Relatively speaking, I guess." Shaylene stated, her voice trembling.

"What's wrong, Shay?" CJ questioned. Shaylene exhaled deeply and unzipped her pink jacket, her hands trembling, exposing only a white bra underneath. She looked down, and CJ followed suit, quickly noticing a large tear in her jeans. "What happened?"

Shaylene's lip quivered. CJ quickly took off his jacket, followed by his blue sweatshirt. "Here. Put this on." Shaylene grabbed the sweatshirt, hands still shaking as she slipped it on. She zipped up her jacket and no sooner had she finished, CJ pulled her back into a tight embrace.

"It's okay." He whispered. "It's gonna be okay. Tell me what happened."

Shaylene's voice trembled as she began to speak. "I got to school this morning, and I went down to the gym to get a Powerade out of the vending machine. As I was walking past the girls locker room, this kid Derek grabbed me by the backpack and pulled me through the doorway. I tried screaming for help, but he… he had his hand over my mouth. I tried to bite him, but it didn't bother him. He sat on my waist and pinned me down as he tore off my shirt. He…" CJ stopped her.

"Don't." His voice quaked. "You don't have to say anything else. It's over. I'm not gonna let anything else happen to you. Come on. Let's get you home. Your parents and sister are worried sick about you." He crouched down. "Come on." Shaylene took the hint and jumped up piggyback onto CJ's back. He walked back toward the road, carrying Shaylene all the way back to his car.

A short time later, CJ and Shaylene were gathered in her living room with her parents, sister and a pair of police officers. Shaylene was still wearing CJ's sweatshirt, as well as pink fluffy pajama pants, and was wrapped in a red fleece blanket. She and CJ were sitting on the couch. She was huddled up close to him and he had his arm around her shoulder.

"Thank you very much, officers." Brenda said.

"You're very welcome, ma'am." One officer said. He looked at Shaylene. "And thank you, Miss. You've been very brave and cooperative, telling us what happened to you. And I'm glad you're relatively okay. It's fortunate that you were able to escape. And that you have a friend who cares about you so much."

"Have a good evening, everyone." The other officer said.

"You too." Brenda said, walking to the door with the officers. "And thank you again." She closed the front door as the officers climbed into their cruiser and drove off.

"Mommy... I don't wanna go back to school." Shaylene cried. CJ wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close.

"You're not." Brenda comforted. "We're going to work something out with your school so you can do your work at home until this situation is taken care of."

"And I'm here for you." CJ said, kissing Shaylene on the forehead.

"Thanks."


	9. A War with the Wrong Side

**CHAPTER EIGHT: A War with the Wrong Side**

CJ and his friends were gathered around a table in CJ's house. Scattered around the table were a bunch of photos and newspaper clippings.

"So... what's all this stuff?" Dayan questioned.

"Things that I think may be tied to our powers." CJ stated. "Local crimes, odd stories, things of the sort."

"Okay, so what have we got?" Shaylene asked.

"Case #1 – A series of robberies, all with camera footage of the criminals, caught in the act. But the weird part is, forensic evidence says otherwise. No prints from the criminals found at the scene. No fingerprints, no footprints. And all the suspects had solid alibis to show that they couldn't have done the robberies."

"Are anyone of them twins?" Danielle asked.

"Police already chased that lead." CJ explained. "Not a single suspect has a twin."

"So... what in the world are we dealing with?" Shaylene questioned.

"I'm not sure." CJ said. "I'm cross-referencing all these cases with creatures from various Nintendo games, trying to narrow down what we could be dealing with. But being just a normal citizen, I don't exactly have computers that can search hundreds of different databases at once."

"What else do we have?" Stacey asked.

"Case #2 – That crash from back in January." CJ stated. "Richard Bishop. Police weren't able to find anything else out from the crash. Driver said he couldn't remember anything. But here's the interesting thing... I was also checking on the wolf and coyote sightings in the area. No more reports were made following the day of the crash. What does that tell you?"

"There might be a connection between the crash and the wolf sightings." Shaylene stated.

"Exactly." CJ said. "As for the third case... A man was caught snooping through confidential police records. When he was confronted, he simply vanished. Police have no idea how he got in or how he got out."

"So... a magician was snooping through case files?" Dayan questioned.

"I don't think he was an ordinary magician." CJ said. "I'm thinking something with pure magic power... Maybe a Wizzrobe or a Magikoopa. Or maybe even just someone like us. A seemingly ordinary human with magical abilities." He scribbled down an address on a piece of paper and handed it to Dayan.

"What's this?" Dayan asked.

"Richard Bishop's address." CJ replied. "Go talk to him; See if you can find anything out. I suspect there's more to that case than the police found out."

"Okay." Dayan said.

"Stacey, you and Shay start looking into the mysterious robberies." CJ said. "Once I have a lead on what you guys might be chasing, I'll let you know."

"Okay." Stacey said.

"...I'd rather stay with you." Shaylene frowned.

"I trust Stacey to protect you." CJ said. He shot Stacey a mild glare. "Right hun? You'll watch out for Shay?"

Stacey glanced down. "...Yes."

"While you guys are doing that, I'll be hunting down our rogue magician and seeing what I can figure out." CJ stated.

"Got it." Dayan said. "We'll call you once we find anything out."

"Same." Shaylene stated.

"Be careful guys." CJ said. "We don't completely know what we're dealing with. Don't let yourselves get in over your heads."

"We won't." Dayan stated. He, Danielle, Stacey and Shaylene then headed out the side door at the other side of the attached kitchen.

 _ **A short time later…**_

Dayan and Danielle walked up to a 2-story gray house on a quiet side street somewhere in the northern part of the city.

"54 Forest Road… This is the place." Dayan said. He reached over and pressed the doorbell. The door was soon answered by a brown-haired, brown-eyed man in a black t-shirt and beige dress pants.

"Can I help you?" The man asked.

"Richard Bishop?" Dayan questioned.

"Yes… Who are you?" The man asked.

 _I didn't think this through…_ Dayan thought. _How the heck are we supposed to question him?_

"We run a news blog about local area news, and we were hoping we could ask you a few questions about your car accident back in January." Dayan requested.

"I already told the police I can't remember anything." Richard stated.

"Are you sure you can't remember anything else?" Dayan asked.

"What do you think 'I can't remember anything' means?" Richard questioned.

"Where were you before the crash?" Dayan asked.

"I already said I can't remember!" Richard snapped.

"Would you consider yourself a heavy drinker? Is it possible you were drunk when you crashed?" Danielle pressured.

"The police didn't find any alcohol in my system." Richard said sternly. "Look, we're done here. You need to leave." Richard began to close the door.

Dayan placed his hand on the door, pushing it back open. "Why did you abandon your car?"

"I said we're done here! You need to leave!" Richard shouted.

"What are you hiding?!" Danielle snapped back.

"I ain't hiding nothing!" Richard snapped. Suddenly, his face transformed to a wolf-like face.

"Whoa! CJ was right!" Dayan exclaimed. "A Wolfos!"

Richard stepped back and gasped. "Wh-what? What are you?! Why aren't you scared?!"

Dayan and Danielle each gathered a small sphere of energy in their hands, which formed into their medallions.

"Sages…" Richard mumbled. He transformed back into his human form. "Please… Come in."

"So… what do you really remember about the crash?" Dayan asked.

"I was just driving down River Street." Richard said. "As I neared the crash site, someone ran out in front of me…"

"Do you know who?" Danielle asked. "…Or what?"

"No." Richard said. "I swerved to avoid hitting them and I faintly remember seeing someone dive into the Merrimack and swim away… I think."

"What did you after?" Dayan questioned.

"I abandoned my car." Richard said. "I transformed into my Wolfos form and swam across the Merrimack to the woods on the other side."

"There were reports of wolf or coyote sightings in nearby towns. Reports that mysteriously stopped the day after your crash." Danielle said. "Do you know anything about that?"

"Yes…" Richard said. "There's a bar a town over that I visit frequently. I have vague memories of drinking too much and wandering into nearby neighborhoods in my Wolfos form."

"But if you swerved to avoid hitting someone or something, why didn't you stick around?" Dayan asked.

"Because I had been drinking." Richard responded.

"I thought you said police didn't find alcohol in your system?" Dayan questioned.

"They didn't find me until a week after the crash." Richard said. "They didn't even bother testing me. After that day, I've barely left my house… other than to attend AA meetings. Why… are you so interested in my accident?"

"We're part of a group that's taken it upon themselves to investigate possible… monster related incidents in the area." Dayan said.

"So… are we done here?" Richard asked.

"Yeah. I think so." Dayan said.

"Thank you." Richard said. Dayan and Danielle got up and walked outside. Dayan pulled out his cell phone and called CJ.

" _What's up?"_ CJ asked.

"We talked to Bishop. You were right about the Wolfos. And he was it." Dayan stated.

" _What did you learn about the crash?"_ CJ questioned.

"He had been drinking." Dayan said. "Swerved to avoid hitting something. Thinks it jumped into the Merrimack and swam off."

" _Might have been a Zora."_ CJ stated. _"Or any number of water creatures. Don't worry about searching for it. What else did he say?"_

"He wandered Groveland as a Wolfos after drinking too much at a local bar. Started going to AA after his accident." Dayan said.

 _"Good work, dude."_ CJ said. _"I think we can leave it alone."_

Meanwhile, Stacey and Shaylene were walking down a quiet side street near a large lake, reading a list of papers.

"Some of these names seem kind of familiar…" Stacey stated. Shaylene scanned the list.

"All these people work at the high school." Shaylene realized.

"Seriously?" Stacey questioned. Her phone started to ring. She pulled it out, answered it and pressed the speaker button. "Hi hun."

" _Hey, put me on speaker, please."_ CJ said from the other end.

"Already done." Stacey responded.

" _I think I know what you guys are dealing with."_ CJ stated. 

"Really?" Shaylene asked.

" _A Dooplighost."_ CJ stated.

"Like Doopliss from Paper Mario?" Shaylene asked.

" _Exactly."_ CJ said. _"And they can only transform into people they've seen. So, see if you can find anything in common between the suspects of the robberies."_

"Already did." Stacey stated.

"They all work at Haverhill High." Shaylene said. "Most of them work in the main office."

" _Perfect."_ CJ replied. _"See if you can cross-reference the employees in the main office with the list of suspects. If there's someone in the office who isn't on the list of suspects, there's a good chance they're our thief."_

"I have a question…" Stacey said. "How are we supposed to give all this to the cops? How in the world are we going to turn in someone who can literally transform into someone else?"

" _I'm not sure…"_ CJ said. _"Just see if you can find our suspect. I'll work on turning them in… Or figuring out how to."_

"Okay." Shaylene said.

"Talk to you in a bit." Stacey said. "Love you."

 _"Love you too."_ CJ said, before Stacey hung up.

"I guess we're making a trip to Haverhill High." Stacey said. "Are you gonna be okay with that?"

Shaylene gulped. "Yeah… I think so."

Across town, CJ was sitting in the lobby of the new police station, speaking with an officer.

"Can you tell me anything about the man who was caught snooping through case files?" CJ questioned.

"It's a pending investigation." The officer replied. "I can't disclose information to the public."

"I read the news reports." CJ said. "He just vanished? Right in front of officers?"

"Yes." The officer responded.

"Look, I'm probably going to sound crazy, but I have reason to believe something supernatural or superhuman may be going on." CJ stated. The cop looked startled, and CJ gasped as the officer's face briefly changed, flashing with the image of a yellow-skinned turtle, and on his back briefly was a red shell. "You're… a Koopa?"

"You can see me?" The officer asked. CJ nodded. "Let's step outside for a moment." The two walked out the front door. "How can you see me?" 

"Because…" CJ gathered energy into his hand, which soon took the form of his medallion.

"A Sage of Hyrule…" The officer said. "So… you're aware that creatures from Hyrule, the Mushroom Kingdom and other lands have started appearing on Earth…"

"Yes." CJ said.

"Wait… Are you the young man who turned in the kidnapper a few months ago?" The officer asked. "The one who turned out to be a Lizalfos?"

"Yes." CJ replied.

"That explains a lot… The case files the man was snooping through are all strange cases from recent months." The officer said. "Alleged monster sightings, strange disappearances and other things that I believe are tied to our appearance in this world."

"Did you get a look at what kind of creature he was?" CJ questioned.

"No." The officer said. "The man never revealed his non-human form. But we did get our sketch artist to draw up a depiction of him and we ran it through the DMV database. David Simms."

"Can you give me his address?" CJ asked.

"I can't actually tell you." The officer said. "But I can confirm that he has connections to the construction crew that was working on the Woolworth Building before the explosion."

"Thank you." CJ said. "Also, a couple of friends of mine are looking into those mysterious robberies. I believe a Dooplighost is behind it all, and we have good reason to believe that they are employed at Haverhill High."

"Thank you very much." The officer said. He walked back into the building and CJ headed downtown. As he was walking, he pulled up information on the construction crew on his phone.

"Wrecking Crew Construction Company…" CJ read aloud. "Hm… These guys have been in business since 1985. That's good business." It didn't take long before he reached the rubble of the Woolworth Building. Standing atop it was a bald man with silver eyes, dressed in a dirty white shirt, blue overalls and a hard hat. He was talking on the phone. CJ stood on the street corner, acting like he was waiting to cross.

"Yes sir…" The man said. "I copied all of the case files. If the mission was successful, I'll find the ones we're looking for. I will not fail us. For the Smash Brothers, I will prevail."

 _The Smash Brothers?_ CJ wondered. _What is the Smash Brothers…?_

"Yes sir… No, I'm down at the site of the explosion." The man said. "Yes sir. I will return to the hideout shortly." The man soon hung up and began walking toward the street. As he did, CJ quickly crossed the street and began walking back up the nearby hill, heading in the direction of his house.

A short time later, CJ was sitting in his room on his laptop. He opened up the internet and typed "Smash Brothers Organization" into the search bar. He scanned the results and saw one that read "Wrecking Crew Construction Co." and in the small print below the main writing CJ noticed the words "Smash Bros Corporation."

"Interesting…" He said aloud. He kept reading up, clicking on other pages related to the Smash Brothers Corporation. "Hm… So the Smash Brothers Corporation owns a lab facility that runs radiation testing as well as a construction company? I guess it makes some kind of sense, considering they don't know what may be uncovered while demolishing a building." He then noticed a link that read "Jump Man Demolitions and Explosives."

 _What in the world…?_ He wondered. Soon, he heard a knock at the door. He got up, headed to the front door and opened it to see Stacey and Shaylene standing there.

"What did you guys find?" He asked.

"Karen McCarthy." Shaylene said. "She's the only HHS office employee who isn't on the list of suspects."

"Perfect." CJ said.

"You find anything about our mysterious magician?" Stacey questioned.

"A little bit." CJ said. "He had ties to the Wrecking Crew Construction Company. They were the ones who demolished the Woolworth Building. But here's the interesting part: Wrecking Crew, and it's sister company, Jump Man Demolitions and Explosives, are both branches of the Smash Brothers Corporation."

"Smash Brothers?" Shaylene asked.

"Yeah." CJ said. "I know. It's weird. They also run a radiation testing lab, though I couldn't seem to find the lab's name."

"So… what now?" Stacey questioned.

"I'm gonna go down to the old site of the Woolworth and see if I can't find anything." CJ said.

A short time later, CJ was wandering the rubble of the Woolworth Building… or what was left of it. Being a few months after the explosion, most of what was left were just piles of bricks and some scattered steel beams and chunks of wood. CJ started digging through the piles of rubble when he was approached by a woman with dark brown hair and brown eyes dressed in a suit.

"Mr Francis?" The woman asked.

"Y-yes? Who are you?" CJ asked.

"Special Agent Alyson Hale, CIA." The woman replied. "You've been viewing sensitive material online."

"I'm sorry…?" CJ questioned.

"Can we ask why you were viewing the Smash Brothers Corporation website?" Agent Hale questioned.

"I was looking up information on the Smash Brothers video game and I thought that it was a joke site." CJ said.

"We ask that you avoid any further research into the Corporation or face criminal charges." Agent Hale said.

"I'm sorry." CJ said. "I will." He then walked away.

CJ later walked into his room, where Shaylene and Stacey were hanging out.

"What did you find out?" Stacey questioned.

"I found this." CJ said, pulling a cell phone out of his pocket. "And I found this…"

CJ opened a text conversation.

" _Captain N, Sir… I found the boy with the shadow magic."_

" _Where?"_

 _"He was snooping on our conversation."_

 _"What does he know?"_

" _Nothing, sir. As far as I can tell, he has no knowledge of our involvement in the explosion of the Woolworth Building, nor does he have any knowledge of the N-Sphere. The Smash Brothers are safe."_

"What's the N-Sphere?" Shaylene questioned.

"I don't know…" CJ said. The phone suddenly vibrated and let out a chime. "There's a new message."

" _Dave, meet me at the base immediately. Feds are looking into us."_ The text read.

"Wait… So, are these Smash Brothers guys behind the explosion downtown?" Stacey asked.

"It sounds like it." CJ said. "And it sounds like they know about our powers… or at least mine." He stood up.

"Where are you going?" Shaylene questioned.

"Back to the Woolworth." CJ said. "If this guy realizes he lost his phone, he'll probably go looking for it."

CJ soon walked toward the rubble of the Woolworth Building, where he saw the same man from earlier.

"Damnit, where is it?!" The man exclaimed.

"Looking for this?" CJ asked, holding up the cell phone.

"You!" The man snapped. CJ gasped as the man's face became similar to the police officer from earlier, but covered with thick glasses and his clothes became a pointed blue hat and robe.

"A Magikoopa!" CJ gasped. He gathered energy into his hand, rushed forward and pinned the Magikoopa to the ground.

"Argh! Leave… me… alone!" The Magikoopa shouted.

"Where is your base? Who is Captain N? And how do you know about my powers?" CJ barked.

"Didn't follow my orders, Mr Francis?" CJ turned and saw Agent Hale standing there. He held up his hand, charging a blast of energy and aiming it at her.

"Where do the Smash Brothers work out of?" CJ questioned. "Tell me!"

"The building… under construction… at NECC…" The Magikoopa stuttered. "I'm sorry, Captain N…"

"Damn it!" Agent Hale exclaimed. "He can't know the truth!" CJ blasted both Hale and the Magikoopa and ran off. In the process, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number.

" _What did you find?"_ Shaylene answered.

"I need you and Stacey to meet me outside my house in a few minutes. We're finding out just what these Smash Brothers guys are hiding… and why they know about us." CJ said.


	10. Captain N, Leader of the Smash Brothers

**CHAPTER NINE: Captain N, Leader of the Smash Brothers**

CJ and his friends, minus Alex, Aubrey and Jennette were gathered outside his house.

"Listen… These Smash Brothers guys know about us, our powers and the monsters that have been appearing in our area." CJ said.

"What are we gonna do?" Dayan asked.

"I'm going to find their hideout, and track down this Captain N guy." CJ stated. "He's the leader. I'm going to get some answers. If he knows about our powers, he may know what caused them."

"Not alone, you're not." Shaylene ordered.

"We're coming with you." Stacey stated.

"No." CJ said. "The CIA is looking into the Smash Brothers, and I've already been ordered to stop looking into them."

"What?" Danielle gasped.

"That's why I'm doing this alone." CJ said. "I'm not letting anyone else get dragged down with me. D and D, I'm not letting you guys get into trouble with the feds because you guys need each other. And I could never forgive myself if I let you guys get separated. Or if anything happened to either of you because I let you get too involved. Stacey, you and Shaylene have your families."

"We're not letting you go alone." Stacey said.

"Yeah. We're not letting anything happen to you." Shaylene stated. "You mean too much to us."

CJ sighed. "Fine. But just you two."

"Good luck, guys." Dayan said. "Be careful."

 _ **A short time later…**_

CJ walked toward the local community college, the same one he worked at and attended. Shaylene and Stacey weren't too far behind him. He neared the baseball fields and set his sights on a new building just off the entrance road, tucked back behind some trees just on the edge of campus. The sign outside read "Opportunity Works".

He gathered energy into his hands and struck the front of the building, shattering the glass doors and blasting a large hole in the wall. He and the girls walked into the building, where they were met by several shocked employees, all holding assault rifles.

"Right under my goddamn nose!" CJ exclaimed. The employees raised their guns. CJ snapped his finger and formed a magic shield around him and the girls. "You think bullets are going to do anything to me? Foolish..." He raised his hand and fired another blast of magic, striking down the armed guards.

"So... I give you powers and THIS is how you repay me?" A new voice said. CJ looked around in search of the source of the voice. Standing on the second floor balcony, overlooking the entrance, was a dark-haired, icy-blue-eyed, scruffy-looking man. He was wearing a tattered sweatshirt, faded jeans, and had facial hair that would make a caveman jealous.

"So... you must be the leader of the Smash Brothers." CJ said. "Captain N..."

"Indeed, I am." Captain N said.

"And what do you mean, give ME powers?" CJ questioned.

"Foolish boy." Captain N said. "You don't know anything, do you?" He leaped off the balcony and rushed toward CJ, gripping his skull in his hands.

" _Captain N dug his fingers into my skull... He then began to show me things... Terrifying things. Soldiers storming down the streets, kicking down doors and hauling citizens away in caged trucks. I watched as those who resisted were shot on spot. Police cars were overturned and in flames, and not an officer could be seen. It was like something out of a movie or a video game. And then he told me..."_

"This is the future... my future... your future... AMERICA'S future." Captain N said. CJ was visibly shocked.

"What?!" CJ questioned. "What do you mean... 'This is America's future.'?" CJ asked.

"All of the paranoid citizens... All the lies... All the constant fighting between the sides of the government... It finally builds up." Captain N said. "Laws meant to protect children end up harming them instead... Celebrities getting away with what everyone else would get punished for... Citizens being arrested and imprisoned for simply speaking their mind and protesting. Everyone finally had it. People started fighting the police... Killing cops. Building 'defense bunkers' to protect themselves from the government. And it turns out to be exactly what they needed. The government puts into place heavily restrictive, almost dictator-like laws, and imprisons those who don't obey the law. Those who resist arrest are shot on command. Travel in and out of the country becomes heavily restricted to the point where citizens are trying to sneak OUT of the U.S. Those caught are killed, no questions asked. That's what happened to me..."

"Wait... You're from the future?!" CJ gasped.

"... I tried to smuggle my family over the Canadian border, in the hopes that we could escape the tyranny of our government... A tyranny not created by those in power, but a tyranny created by the people. A tyranny created by those paranoid enough to believe it would happen." Captain N said. "I succeeded in escaping across the border, but my wife and daughter were captured. Before I could do anything, I watched in terror as they were both executed. I continued to escape, fleeing deep into Canada and later finding my way to England. It's there that I discovered a way hone my powers and enable myself to travel through time. I traveled back to this time, and I organized the Smash Brothers." Captain N said. "I knew I would need help stopping the terrible future I came from."

"But why me?" CJ asked. "And what is the N-Sphere?"

"So you know of it." Captain N said. "I devised a way to create a device similar to that of the Ray Sphere from the inFamous series, but this had a different result in mind. You see, I knew of your stories, boy. I knew of all your friends. And I knew of your love for video games, especially those created by Nintendo."

"You... You targeted me and my friends specifically..." CJ said. "You've cost us our normal lives... And turned us into what the 'normal' world would call freaks."

"But YOU don't feel like a freak, do you?" Captain N said.

"No. I love these powers." CJ said. "I would've killed for my story powers to be a reality. But I would've never wished it on my friends."

"You couldn't have stopped it." Captain N said. "It just so happens that you and your friends share a certain thing in common amongst all your genetics. You share what's called the Miyamoto Gene. Exposure to certain kinds of radiation would've caused these powers in all of you regardless of what I did."

"That doesn't mean we would've been exposed to radiation." CJ said. "You can't guarantee that we would've gotten these powers."

Captain N just laughed. "Such a fool. So blind to the truth."

"Enough!" CJ snapped. "I'm done with this. It ends now!" CJ rushed toward Captain N, gathered energy into his hands. He punched Captain N with all his might, causing a dark explosion that sent Captain N flying back into the wall. Stacey and Shaylene both shot a blast of magic at Captain N, stunning him a bit more. Captain N dropped to his knees.

"Foolish girls... This doesn't concern you." Captain N said. He unleashed a wave of energy, knocking the girls into the opposite wall and throwing CJ onto his back.

"Shaylene! Stacey!" CJ exclaimed. _Jesus... This guy's had way more time to train his powers... I've only had mine for a few months... How the hell am I supposed to beat him?_

"You're pathetic... Giving you those powers was a waste." Captain N said.

"Shut UP!" CJ screamed, firing a blast on energy at Captain N. He just jumped to the side, smirking as the shadow energy missed him.

"Stacey's family can't stand you, you know that?" Captain N asked. "26 and still in community college. They keep praying for the day you two break up. They think you're a failure, and they're sickened by the fact that you proposed to her."

"LIES!" CJ yelled. "If that was true, they wouldn't have given me permission to ask for her hand in marriage!"

"So blind to the truth, boy..." Captain N said. "Your own father was ashamed of you. He didn't die of natural causes. He poisoned his own food. Couldn't bear to witness his failure of a son any longer. But you knew that deep down, didn't you? That's why you said no to the autopsy. Didn't want to admit the truth to yourself... didn't want to hear it."

"Enough lies!" CJ shouted, filled with rage. He ran forward and was quickly grabbed by Captain N. They struggled back and forth and finally CJ got a grip on Captain N's head. He fired a blast of magic into Captain N's temple, stunning him. "Die!" He shouted, gathering energy into his fist and punching Captain N in the chest.

" _I looked down at Captain N, reveling in my victory. And then, I heard him whisper: 'Shaylene, I love you. Please forgive me.'_

 _And then he was on me, fingers digging into my face. As Captain N's secrets began to play out in my head, I finally began to understand. I saw it again, the government beginning to cripple it's citizens... a government growing mad with power. And at it's helm, I finally saw her... A woman with powers much like my own, much like Captain N's... Intent on extinguishing all others with powers..._

 _In those early days, Captain N could've used his powers to stop it, but instead, he fled with his family, leaving others to fend for themselves. Hunted for years, Captain N and his family watched as the rest of the country went to hell. I saw that fateful day when they finally tried to flee the country and his wife and daughter were slaughtered before his eyes..._

 _And then it was too late. Too late to fight, too late to save anyone. In that moment of grief, he used his newest and most dangerous power... He went on a one-way trip back in time, attempting to rewrite history. Captain N seized control of the Smash Brothers, back then called the Jump Men, and accelerated the N-Sphere's development._

 _Years spent planning the blast, plotting every turn, finding me and my friends... Yet the one thing that drove him forward, his sole connection to the future he ran from, was a picture from his wedding day..._

 _...When he married Shaylene. In those days, Captain N had innocent looking blue eyes. And for the first time, I realized just who he was._

 _I cringed and nearly puked... Unable to accept the fact that Captain N and I were one and the same... That he'd come back in time to mold me into the savior he failed to be. Causing the onset of my powers... HIS powers... earlier than it would've happened._

 _So that when the time came and the government got out of control, I'd be able to defend the woman he loved... the woman_ _ **I**_ _loved... So that I'd be capable of making impossible decisions... All for the common good..._

 _And then Captain N fell back, dead... His final message, MY final message, burned into my brain. I take one last look down at myself... my future self... and turn around, the pain and rage burning inside myself. I look at Shaylene and Stacey, both unconscious from the hits they took._

 _Confused and angered, I hate everything about Captain N... He's made me question my engagement, told me that in the future I marry someone ten years younger than me, and that I'll have to watch my best friend turned wife die if I'm not prepared..."_

"Shaylene! Stacey!" CJ rushed forward to the girls as the two began to regain consciousness.

"CJ?" Stacey questioned.

"Did... Did we win?" Shaylene asked.

"No..." CJ said. "Captain N showed me the future... He's me..."

"What?!" Stacey gasped.

"He came back in time to mold me... Give me powers... Earlier than I would've got them anyway." CJ said. "His wife and daughter... My wife and daughter... were killed by a power-hungry government led by an angry dictator with powers not unlike our own."

"So... what are you going to do?" Shaylene asked.

"The only thing I can do." CJ said. "I need to harness my powers. Get better. Prepare to save the women I love."

" _In that moment, something happened... I watched as Captain N's body began to glow... And suddenly, I felt my powers accelerate. And I saw another vision of the future... I saw her face... The face of the woman leading the corrupt government, and I couldn't believe who it was..._

 _...Standing at the helm of the government, the dictator... was Jennette. And it all made sense... The picture that drove Captain N wasn't his first wedding... He..._ _ **I**_ _... originally married Stacey... And Shaylene was devastated. Seeing her sister's heart break from my marriage to Stacey, Jennette used her powers to take control of everything, intent on eliminating Stacey and leaving me free... free to repair Shaylene's broken heart... The heart that I broke._

 _That day that Captain N lost his wife and daughter... It wasn't Shaylene that was killed... It was Stacey. Captain N knew that all this was caused by his marriage to Stacey. He used his powers to go back in time to before he married Stacey._

 _But... being in love with both Stacey and Shaylene, even he couldn't bring himself to kill Stacey. So he tried to mold me... He gave me powers, knowing that I would train them, and that I would be ready for the future... Whether it happened or not. He let me find him, and left me free to make my own choice... A choice between the woman I was engaged to now... And the girl who the law said I shouldn't love..._

 _And now, I had a heavy decision before me... Do I stay with Stacey and hope that I will be powerful enough to stop Jennette from becoming a ruthless dictator? Or do I call off my engagement and leave Stacey for someone far too young for me? And risk not only going to prison, but creating a new, worse future..."_

"CJ? Are you okay?" Shaylene asked.

"I... I saw more of Captain N's life..." CJ said. "The dictator is Jennette."

"What?!" Shaylene gasped.

"When I saw Captain N's life, I saw a wedding picture of him... or me... and you, Shaylene." CJ said. "So, I assumed you were the wife that was killed. But..."

"But what?" Stacey asked.

"It turns out it was actually you, hun." CJ said. "I married you first, and it broke Shaylene's heart. Outraged by the pain I caused her sister, Jennette used her powers to seize control of the government and it resulted in you being killed. I married Shaylene, but the damage had already been done. So... I went back in time to try to prepare myself to stop Jennette from rising to power and prevent it all from happening."

"So... what now?" Shaylene asked. "Please tell me you aren't going to kill my sister..."

"No..." CJ said. "I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet. There's too many variables that play into it."

"So... you're just going to sit back and let things happen the way they do?" Stacey questioned. "You're going to let me get killed in the future?!"

"What? No!" CJ said in shock.

"Then kill Jennette." Stacey said. She then looked at Shaylene and pointed. "Or kill her!"

"WHAT?!" Shaylene gasped. "Why me?"

"If you're out of the picture, CJ can't break your heart by marrying me." Stacey said.

"Are you nuts, Stacey?!" CJ snapped. "Killing Shaylene could cause an event ten times worse!"

"It's her or me!" Stacey said, gathering energy into her hands. Scared, Shaylene began to back up.

"Stacey, what are you doing?" Shaylene asked. Tears started to form in her eyes. "Please... don't do this..." Stacey fired a blast of energy at Shaylene and gasped as Shaylene vanished.

"What the hell?" Stacey questioned. She looked to her right and saw CJ, focusing his powers. "Why are you saving her? Do you want me to die?!"

"Dammit Stacey!" CJ snapped. "If you kill Shaylene, Jennette could very well still come after you and kill you before we're even married!" He then focused his energy and Stacey vanished as well.

Across the city, Stacey found herself standing in the woods, not far from an open field. She scanned her surroundings.

"What the fuck? He sent me home?" Stacey thought aloud. She pulled out her phone and began to text CJ. "Ugh..."

Across the street from CJ's community college, Shaylene found herself standing in a wooded area on the edge of a large lake, the city's local water supply.

"Where... where am I?" Shaylene wondered. She looked around, and then looked behind her and saw the college across the street. "Wait... that's CJ's school right there... So I must be on the shores of Kenoza Lake. But... How did I get here?"

"I teleported you here." Shaylene turned and saw CJ.

"CJ? Where's Stacey?" Shaylene asked.

"Across town, in the woods behind her house." CJ said. His phone then chimed with the familiar 'secret discovery' sound from the Legend of Zelda series. He pulled out his phone and checked it. "Dammit... It's Stacey." He read the text. "Yup. She's pissed that I saved you." He then put his phone back into his pocket.

"Aren't you gonna reply?" Shaylene asked.

"Honestly, I'm not sure what I'm gonna do yet." CJ said. "I'm more confused than I've ever been. I mean, I love Stacey... I stood by her from the discovery of that tumor all the way through when they told her she was cancer free. But... we've been fighting a lot lately. And there's been a lot of stress on our relationship. I could see half the stuff Captain N said being true. Hell, Stacey even told me that her mom was upset about me proposing while I'm still in school. Besides..." He stopped for a moment and stared out at the lake.

"Besides what?" Shaylene asked.

"I can't sit back and watch you die." CJ said. "I love you just as much as I love Stacey. Sometimes I think I might love you more. And Stacey seems to think that killing you is going to solve everything... But that could just turn Jennette against her even sooner."

"I... I still can't believe that Jennette would use her powers to seize control of the government all because you broke my heart." Shaylene said.

"I can." CJ said. "You're her baby sister. She cares about you more than anything. Hell, I'm actually shocked that her and I are as good friends as we are. Given the age difference between you and me, I would think that she would look at me as the creepy ex-neighbor who won't stay away from you."

"Yeah, but she knows you better than that, dude." Shaylene said. "She knows that it's not some weird, creepy, perverted lust for me. She knows you actually love me and care about me. And I know it too. Even if you were single, I know you wouldn't want to date me until I'm out of high school and at least 18."

Suddenly, an explosion rocked the lake and a pillar of water rose up. Standing atop the pillar was Stacey.

"Stacey, stop it!" CJ shouted.

"Move!" Stacey yelled. "She needs to die! It's the only way!" She then began to gather up the water from the lake and began to create a giant aqua spear.

 _Dammit Stacey..._ CJ thought to himself. Stacey threw the spear and CJ quickly formed a shield, causing the spear to fall apart and fall back into the lake.

"Why are you protecting her?!" Stacey questioned.

"Because... this isn't right!" CJ exclaimed. "You're being selfish! Trying to kill her to save yourself!"

"No! I'm trying to save US!" Stacey yelled.

"Stacey, stop!" CJ shouted. "If you kill her, there won't be an us to save!"

"It's her or me! Choose!" Stacey demanded.

" _I knew I needed to do something, and at that moment, I found myself overcome with power. I used a blast of shadow magic to propel myself across the lake, striking Stacey and dragging her with me to the other side of the lake. As we landed, I found myself doing something to her that Captain N did to me... Showing her a vision of the future. But it was one I hadn't seen either..._

 _Short images flashed through our minds... A gravestone reading Shaylene's name and stating that she died at the young age of 16... Jennette in some underground facility training her power against robots... And finally, we saw Jennette and Stacey facing off in battle... With Jennette delivering a fatal blow to Stacey."_

"See? THIS is the future you can look forward to if you kill Shaylene." CJ said. "It's also the future you can force me to look forward to. You kill Shaylene, and I'm gonna have to deal with a future without either of you. You kill her, and you're going to be the hand that brings new life to Captain N. Do you want that on your hands?"

"I'm tired of her coming between us!" Stacey shouted.

"Hun... Look at your hand." CJ said. "What are you wearing?"

Stacey looked down and was quiet for a moment.

"The ring you proposed with..." She mumbled.

"Exactly." CJ said. "If Shaylene was really coming between us, would I have proposed to you?"

"Yeah, but..." Stacey began to protest.

"But what?" CJ asked.

"If she lives, I'll die in the future..." Stacey said. Suddenly, a wave of water rose up out of the lake and knocked CJ aside. "That can't happen. I'll kill her and Jennette if I have to!"

" _Nothing was working. No matter what I did, I couldn't get through to Stacey. I knew there was only one solution. It wasn't enough for me to stop to Captain N. It wasn't just enough for me to defeat him now and use the knowledge I gained to prevent his future._

 _No... At that moment, I knew I needed to BECOME Captain N. I needed to do exactly what he did in the future... But I needed to do it in my present day. I needed to focus my powers. I needed to gain his... or my... most devastating power._

 _And so, I, much like Captain N, used my powers to go back in time..."_

At that moment, CJ found himself enshrouded in light. When the light vanished, he found himself in an old run-down, abandoned building. The room was mostly dark, dimly lit by the faint rays of sunlight that crept into the room through holes and gaps in the plywood that boarded up the windows and doors.

"The old Woolworth building." CJ said to himself. "Good. It worked. Now, let's hope I'm in the right time."

As if to answer his questions, a flash of light filled the room. When it vanished, he saw Captain N standing in the center. The room was now aglow with the bright light of the N-Sphere.

"Hello... Me." CJ said. Captain N turned.

"Well, isn't this a pleasant surprise." Captain N said. "This is far earlier than I planned to meet face-to-face."

"Believe me, I know." CJ said. "But I'm one step ahead of you."

" _I smirked and lunged forward, fingers digging into Captain N's face. And I began to show him things... I began to show him the future that he forced upon me. The near future that I just escaped from. I showed him our face-off, his death, and the immediate war between Stacey and Shaylene._

 _I showed him Shaylene's death at the hands of Stacey, and Stacey's quest to kill Jennette. We both witnessed Stacey murder Jennette in cold blood, and I watched as Stacey was dragged off in handcuffs, sentenced to life in some kind of top-secret government detention center. A place where the government dubbed her a 'freak' and ran all kinds of tests on her._

 _And then it happened..."_

"You can't escape it boy." Captain N said, striking CJ and knocking him into a wall. "My existence is written in stone. You can't stop me."

" _I watched as Captain N activated the N-Sphere himself before I could even react. But something happened that I didn't expect. Somehow, there wasn't a blast. Not a big one anyway. The N-Sphere created a small, localized explosion. Captain N was caught in the blast and swallowed into a vortex. Dead, I assumed. But I still felt its effects. I guess the reaction must have been different because I already had powers... Or maybe it wasn't fully powered up..._

 _It didn't take long before I realized that while the blast radius was small, the energy extended far beyond the Woolworth building where the blast was contained. Much like before I traveled back through time, my friends all gained their powers. But this time, no one knew about the blast except me. And although the effects started to be seen again, there was no government agencies breathing down our necks about the Smash Brothers..._

 _Though I knew we were going to have to work to keep our powers, and the creatures brought into existence by the blast, a secret..."_


End file.
